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EMBRACING  THEIR 


ORIGIN,  NATURE,  OBLIGATION,  AND  BENEFITS. 


ALSO, 

THE  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS  AND  LEADERS,  AND 
APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS: 


BY 


REV.  L.  ROSSER,  A.M. 

AtJTHOR  OF  "baptism,"  AND  "EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION." 


RICHMOND,  VA.: 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 
1855. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1855,  by 
L.  ROSSER, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Virginia. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHNSON  AND  CO. 
PHILADELPHIA. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Preface.   12 

Introduction   15 

PART  I. 

ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 
Chap.  I. — Origin  op  Class  Meetings. 

1.  Origin  of  the  Societies   38 

2.  Origin  of  the  Classes   42 

Chap.  II. — Nature  of  Class  Meetings. 

1.  Not  new,  substantially,  with  Mr.  Wesley   47 

2.  Their  Methodistic  nature   61 


PART  II. 

THE  OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 

Chap.  I. — Founded  substantially  upon  the  Scriptures   60 

Chap.  II. — Founded  circumstantially  upon  the  authority  op 

the  Church   67 

Chap.  III. — Founded  upon  their  essential  relation  to  the 

itinerant  ministry  op  the  Methodist  Church......  112 

3 


4 


TABLE  OP  CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Chap.  IV. — Deducible  from  their  essential  relation  to  the 


WHOLE  MeTHODISTIC  ECONOMY   130 

Chap.  V. — Deducible  from  their  design   132 

Chap.  VI. — Explicitly  expressed  in  the  Discipline.....   140 

Chap.  VIL — FoirNDED  upon  the  social  compact  op  the  Method- 
ist Church   143 


PART  III. 

BENEFITS  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


Chap.  I. — Benefits  enumerated. 

1.  Religious  sympathy   149 

2.  A  holy  courage  is  excited   149 

3.  Means  of  mutual  love  and  help   151 

4.  Most  powerful  means  of  preserving  the  Church 

against  lukewarmness  and  formality   154 

5.  Principal  means  through  which  the  ministry  ob- 

tain a  knowledge  of  their  people*s  spiritual  state.  156 

6.  Prepare  the  Church  for  the  better  understanding 

of  preaching   158 

Chap.  II. — Benefits  continued. 

1.  Most  powerful  help  to  young  Christians   159 

2.  Afford  penitents  a  great  help  in  seeking  religion...  162 

3.  Prepare  the  Church  for  conducting  revivals   165 

Chap.  III. — Benefits  continued. 

1.  Have  all  the  advantages  of  a  verbal  relation  of 

Christian  experience   168 

2.  Furnish  advantages  to  several  classes  of  Chris- 

tians  169 

3.  Best  defence  in  our  Church  against  the  influence 

of  the  world   172 

4.  Promote  the  prosperity  of  our  Church   173 

5.  Secure  the  permanence  of  our  Church   177 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PART  IV. 

OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 
Chap.  I. — Objections  considee^ed. 

Page. 

1.  The  institution  is  opposed  to  Christian  liberty".  181 

2.  "The  institution  is  a  Popish  ordinance"   185 

3.  "  Observance  of  class  meeting  not  essential  to  true 

Christian  character  and  salvation"   186 

4.  "  Other  evangelical  denominations  have  not  this 

institution,"  &e   195 

5.  "Attendance  should  be  left  optional"   200 

6.  "  There  is  no  Scripture  for  the  institution"   201 

7.  "  The  leaders  are  incompetent  for  the  work"   202 

8.  "There  are  many  in  the  classes  who  area  re- 

proach to  the  Church"   203 

9.  "  I  cannot  speak  my  experience  before  those  who 

have  more  knowledge  and  grace  than  I  have"...  201 

10.  Some  are  "  ashamed  to  speak  their  religious  feel- 

ings before  others"   205 

11.  "I  am  not  worthy  to  meet  with  the  people  of  God 

in  such  holy  fellowship"   207 

12.  "  I  do  not  know  why,  but  I  do  not  like  the  class 

meeting"  »   207 

Chap.  II. — Excuses  examined. 

1.  "  I  cannot  speak  as  well  as  others"   208 

2.  "I  have  not  time  for  its  regular  observance"   210 

3.  "  I  have  company,  or  expect  company,  this  hour"  21t) 

4.  "My  business  demands  my  attention  this  hour"...  212 

5.  "  Distance  renders  it  exceedingly  inconvenient  for 

me  to  attend  regularly"   212 

6.  "  I  must  take  some  time  to  visit  other  churches".  213 

7.  "  I  can  meet  with  my  preacher  when  he  visits  the 

class"   214 

8.  "  If  I  attend  faithfully  to  all  the  other  means  of 

grace,  I  may,  without  much  loss,  occasionally 
neglect  my  class"   216 

9.  "  I  met  with  my  class  last  week,  and  shall  not  at- 

tend this  week"   218 

1* 


6 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Chap.  II. —  Continued. 

Page. 

10.  "  It  is  too  cold  or  too  warm,  or  it  is  cloudy  or 

rainy,  and  the  streets,  or  the  roads,  are  wet 
and  muddy"   218 

11.  "  I  am  slightly  indisposed"   219 

12.  "  I  can  tell  but  the  same  old  story,  and  hear  but 

the  same  old  advice  from  the  leader,  and  the 
same  old  statements  from  the  members"   220 


PART  V. 

DUTIES  OF  PART  V.— PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  AND  APPEAL 
TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 

Chap.  I. — Duties  of  preachers. 

1.  To  visit  the  classes  regularly   223 

2.  To  see  that  the  leaders  visit  absentees  faithfully 

and  regularly   226 

3.  To  examine  the  class-books  weekly,  or  whenever 

practicable   227 

4.  To  interchange  leaders  occasionally   228 

5.  To  preach  frequently  and  faithfully  on  the  obli- 

gation of  Christian  communion   228 

6.  To  administer  discipline   229 

Chap.  11. — How  to  promote  prosperity  in  the  Classes. 

1.  Zeal  must  be  promoted   247 

2.  Offences  must  be  removed   247 

3.  Regularity  must  be  observed   247 

4.  The  experimental  doctrines  of  the  gospel  must  be 

preached  and  enforced   248 

5.  The  practical  doctrines  of  the  gospel  must  be 

taught  and  enforced   249 

6.  Union  must  be  preserved   249 

7.  Activity,  importunate  prayer,  and  incessant  watch- 

fulness to  be  encouraged  ,   249 

8.  Patience,  forbearance,  meekness,  and  gentleness, 

to  be  encouraged   249 

9.  All  the  Christian  graces  to  be  cultivated   250 


TABLE  or  CONTENTS.  7 

Chap.  II. — Continued, 

Page. 


10.  All  covetousness,  and  its  invariable  concomitants, 

formality  and  lukewarmness,  to  be  reproved...  250 

11.  The  size  of  the  classes  to  be  regulated   251 

Chap.  III. — Nature  and  duties  of  the  office  of  Class-Leaders. 

1.  The  nature  of  the  office  of  leaders   253 

2.  Duties  of  class-leaders   258 

(1.)  To  inquire  particularly  into  the  inward 

state  of  every  member  of  his  class   259 

(2.)  To  inquire  particularly  into  the  outward 

conduct  of  every  member  of  his  class...  262 
(3.)  To  advise,  reprove,  comfort,  or  exhort,  as 

occasion  may  require   267 

(4.)  To  visit  the  sick  members  of  his  class   268 

(5.)  To  inform  the  minister  of  any  that  walk 

disorderly,  and  will  not  be  reproved   269 

(6.)  To  meet  the  ministers  and  stewards  once  a 

week,  &c   270 

Chap.  IV. — Advice  to  the  Class-Leaders. 

1.  Graces  to  be  kept  in  lively,  vigorous,  and  constant 

exercise   272 

2.  Example  to  be  consistent  with  duties  of  office   274 

3.  Highest  qualifications  required  for  the  work  to  be 

sought   276 

4.  Work  requires  more  than  ordinary  grace   279 

Chap.  V. — Advice  to  Class-Leaders  continued   282 

1.  As  to  mode  of  leading  class   282 

(1.)  Mode  of  examination   282 

(2.)  Freedom  and  simplicity  in  relating  experi- 
ence  282 

(3.)  Self-examination :  severe,  thorough,  impar- 
tial  284 

(4.)  Prayer   285 

(5.)  Singing   287 

2.  Other  advices  288 

Chap.  VI. — Appeal  to  private  members. 

1.  To  those  who  wilfully  and  repeatedly  neglect 

class   292 


8 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Chap.  VI. — Continued. 

Page. 


2.  To  those  who  occasionally  meet  in  class   298 

3.  To  the  formal  and  backslidden  in  heart   298 

4.  To  men  of  business....   304 

6.  To  young  Christians   313 

6.  To  old  and  faithful  Christians   316 


PAET  VI. 

TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  SYSTEM  OF  CLASS 
MEETINGS. 


Chap.  I. — The  duty  of  the  Church  to  support  its  ministry. 

1.  The  scriptural  argument   320 

2.  No  certain  and  fixed  amount  determined  in  the 

New  Testament   325 

3.  The  true  Church,  in  all  ages,  has  liberally  sup- 

ported its  ministry   328 

4.  Amount,  in  all  cases,  should  be  sufficient  to  make 

the  ministry  comfortable,  &q   329 

Chap.  II. — Efficiency  of  the  Classes  to  raise  support. 

1.  Most  convenient  method   332 

2.  Secures  regularity   332 

3.  Provides  for  the  payment  of  annual  subscription 

in  small  amounts   333 

4.  Preserves  a  lively  sense  of  responsibility  to  con- 

tribute to  support  of  ministry   338 

5.  Method  should  be  strictly  observed   339 

6.  All  should  give  according  to  ability   340 

7.  Young  converts  should  be  early  taught  the  duty 

of  giving   340 

Chap.  III. — Duties  of  saving  and  giving. 

1.  Duty  of  saving   342 

2.  Duty  of  giving   343 

3.  The  rules  of  giving   344 

4.  Appeal  to  the  rich,  who  give  but  little   347 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  9 
Chap.  IV.— Objections  to  giving  considered. 

Page 

1.  "  I  hare  nothing  to  give."   350 

2.  "I  have  a  wife  and  children  to  provide  for"   353 

3.  "I  must  pay  my  just  debts  before  I  can  give 

any  thing"   354 

4.  "  The  poor  cannot  afford  to  give  any  thing   357 

Chap.  V. — Conclusion. 

Appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Methodist  ministry,  and 
the  widows  and  orphans  of  deceased  preachers.  360 


9 


PREFACE. 


With  the  clearest  conviction  that  the  institution 
of  the  Classes  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
originated  in  the  special  providence  of  God,  and  is 
founded  substantially  upon  scriptural  ground,  and 
enters  essentially  into  the  Christian  character  and 
conduct  of  Methodists,  the  author  has  written  the 
following  Treatise  in  its  defence — depending  not 
upon  his  humble  abilities  for  a  satisfactory  vindica- 
tion, but  upon  the  plain  and  immutable  truths  on 
which  it  rests,  and  the  incalculable  benefits  with 
which  its  proper  observance  is  connected.  Regard- 
ing Methodism  as  a  peculiar  and  prominent  form  of 
evangelical  Christianity,  and  confident  that  it  will 
endure  and  flourish  so  long  as  it  maintains  and 
observes  its  exalted  views  of  the  experimental  and 
practical  doctrines  of  the  word  of  God,  he  has  been 
greatly  supported  in  the  important  work  which  he 
has  undertaken.  And  believing  that  Methodism 
will  flourish  or  decline  in  its  spirituality  and  practi- 
cal efficiency,  in  proportion  as  the  Class  Meeting  is 

observed  or  neglected,  he  has  the  more  earnestly 

11 


12 


PREFACE. 


and  anxiously  addressed  himself  to  the  preparation 
of  the  following  volume.  That  a  better  defence 
may  be  made,  he  cheerfLiUy  admits ;  but  till  this 
be  done,  his  book  may  be  of  some  use.  In  the 
former  case,  let  his  book  be  laid  aside :  in  the  latter 
case,  he  will  have  a  sufficient  reward. 

It  has  been  his  aim  to  consider  the  subject  in  its 
essential  nature  and  important  relations  to  the  en- 
tire Methodistic  economy,  spiritual  and  temporal ; 
and  yet  he  does  not  flatter  himself  that  he  has  ex- 
hausted the  subject.  A  subject  so  fi:uitful  doubtless 
admits  of  other  arguments,  which  an  abler  hand 
may  farnish;  and  it  will  not  be  sui^prising  if  issues 
and  objections  shall  be  raised  which  have  not  been 
herein  anticipated.  The  sources  of  information 
specially  devoted  to  the  subject  are  scanty  and  cur- 
sory, and  consequently  the  principal  arguments 
adduced  in  this  work  in  support  of  the  Class 
Meeting  are  the  results  of  a  careful  elaboration  of 
principles  contained  in  the  Bible,  and  lying  at  the 
foundation  of  every  form  of  sound  church-govern- 
ment. This  is  particularly  the  case  in  the  discus- 
sion of  the  obligation  of  the  Class  Meeting  as  a  test 
of  membership  in  the  Methodist  Chm-ch,  which 
may  be  considered  ,by  some  as  high  and  untenable 
ground,  but  which  the  author  considers  as  the  very 
essence  of  the  institution,  and  which  he  has  en- 
deavored to  establish  upon  an  immovable  basis. 


PREFACE. 


13 


If  lie  has  been  too  elaborate,  and  the  arguments 
have  been  too  much  extended,  in  some  parts  of  the 
work,  for  the  comprehension  of  ordinary  readers, 
the  subject  demanded  it;  and  other  and  simpler 
arguments  are  furnished,  the  force  of  which  will 
be  obvious  to  the  plainest  understanding.  These 
considerations  will  justify  the  size  of  the  book. 

If  the  author  has  unfortunately  committed  any 
material  errors  in  this  Treatise,  he  is  consoled  with 
the  assurance  that  his  brethren,  who  are  jealous 
of  the  purity  of  Methodism,  will  quickly  detect 
them,  and  he  pledges  himself  as  quickly  to  correct 
them.  Confiding  more  in  their  vigilance  and 
judgment  than  in  his  own  abilities,  and  especially 
relying  upon  the  superintendence  of  Him  whose 
work  Methodism  is,  the  author  commits  this  volume 
to  the  public — accompanying  it,  as  he  composed  it, 
with  his  prayers  and  the  purest  motives. 

L.  R. 

Norfolk  City,  Va.,  Oct,  19,  1854. 


2 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  love  of  change,  in  church  and  state,  is  a  prominent 
characteristic  of  the  present  age.  Before  the  minds  of  philoso- 
phers and  statesmen  there  is  ever  floating  the  brilliant  phan- 
tom of  the  world's  regeneration — some  golden  age,  in  which 
they  anticipate  the  perfection  of  political,  intellectual,  and 
moral  glory,  and  the  consummation  of  human  happiness. 
Hence,  neglect  of  the  past,  and  contempt  for  the  mighty 
dead,  are  too  often  and  obstinately  cherished.  Historical 
facts  are  disregarded,  as  adapted  alone  to  the  age  in  which 
they  occurred,  and  as  of  no  use,  and  furnishing  no  lesson, 
no  rules,  no  instructions,  no  warnings  to  the  present.  Vene- 
rable age,  and  sound  experience,  fraught  with  a  vast  fund 
of  facts  and  ideas,  are  disdained ;  and  youth,  inexperience, 
and  theorizing  leaders  crowd  our  halls  of  legislature,  civil 
and  ecclesiastical,  who  want,  they  say,  to  correct  the  errors 
of  the  past,  and  regenerate  the  church  and  state.  They 
insinuate  that  the  people  stand  in  need  of  something 
which  they  have  not  at  present  — some  important  changes 
and  improvements ;  but  what  they  are  they  cannot  exactly 
define,  nor  are  they  fully  agreed  among  themselves  as  to 
what  is  required,  nor  have  the  people  themselves  generally 
any  intelligable  idea  of  what  they  are :  indeed,  they  have 
not  even  expressed  a  sense  of  need  of  any  material  change 
at  all.  And  yet,  only  let  what  they  propose  have  the  sem- 
blance of  improvement,  or  a  plausible  approximation  to  it, 
and  there  are  not  found  wanting  men  who,  with  rapturous 
enthusiasm,  applaud  and  support  them,  and  embrace  that 

15 


16 


INTRODUCTION. 


which  is  new,  as  the  very  thing  they  want.  Many  are  popu- 
lar with  the  masses^  because  they  have  not  fully  revealed 
their  secret,  and  because  their  theories  have  not  yet  been 
reduced  to  practice :  this  is  the  explanation  of  the  unlimited 
influence  of  certain  prominent  individuals  of  great  intellec- 
tual strength  and  force  of  will.  Towering  above  the  sur- 
rounding and  admiring  multitude,  they  sway  them  as  they 
choose  j  because,  having  no  principles  of  their  own,  and  no 
confidence  in  themselves,  and  impelled  onward  by  the  charm 
of  novelt}^,  they  arrange  themselves  under  their  leader^s  ban- 
ner, which  they  support  with  devotion,  till  the  unsuccessful 
and  fatal  experiment  is  made.  It  will  not  be  surprising, 
then,  unless  God  interpose,  if  civil  revolutions,  social  convul- 
sions, and  ecclesiastical  changes,  rapidly  follow  the  unfolding 
the  dreams  and  theories  of  ambitious  adventurers,  and  vene- 
rable and  majestic  structures,  the  work  of  ages,  and  founded 
upon  sound  and  immutable  principles,  be  assailed,  if  not 
subverted,  by  this  indiscriminate  passion  fbr  change. 

The  masses,  we  have  said,  under  the  influence  of  mis- 
guided and  powerful  leaders,  are  forever  desirous  of  remo- 
delling the  present  social  order  and  organization  of  civil  and 
religious  society,  by  substituting  other  rulers  for  those  now 
in  power — by  displacing  established  forms  for  new  and  un- 
tried ones — by  repealing  or  materially  modifying  ancient 
and  existing  laws  and  usages  for  supposed  improvements — 
by  abolishing  old  and  useful  regulations  and  institutions,  and 
thus  severing  the  ligaments  that,  binding  society  together  in 
unity  and  strength,  maintain  the  mutual  dependence  of  its 
individual  members;  in  a  word,  by  discarding  the  real  for  the 
ideal,  the  useful  for  the  fanciful,  the  true  for  the  plausible, 
and  the  practical  for  the  speculative.  Ignorant  of  the  nature 
and  slow  development  of  sound  principles — unacquainted 
with  their  true  wants — failing  to  see  that  the  real  evil  is 
moral,  and  essentially  in  themselves,  they  seek  relief  in  out- 
ward, foi'mal,  and  constitutional  innovations ;  and  so  would 


INTRODUCTION. 


17 


subject  government,  laws,  and  institutions  to  a  rapid  succes- 
sion of  useless,  ineffectual,  and,  in  many  instances,  disastrous 
clianges.  It  is  true,  the  old  foundations  of  the  social  struc- 
ture of  Europe,  civil  and  religious,  in  the  last  three  centu- 
ries and  a  half,  have  been  subverted  by  the  successful  ap- 
plication of  the  great  moral  and  political  truths  which 
Christianity  furnished  to  the  people,  and  new  laws,  institu- 
tions, and  forms  of  government  have  been  adopted,  and 
civilization  and  religion  greatly  advanced  and  improved. 
The  speculations  of  the  cloister  that  ended  in  the  dreams 
of  rapture,  the  superstitious  reverence  paid  to  imaginary 
relics  of  saint  and  seer,  the  imposing  absurdities  of  clerical 
policy,  the  corrupt  and  enervating  services  of  priestly  in- 
genuity, the  institutions  and  requisitions  of  spiritual  despo- 
tism, and  many  long-established  and  degrading  forms  of  civil 
tyranny,  retired  before  the  clear  and  animating  light  of 
Christianity,  and  most  important,  extensive,  and  useful 
changes  followed.  In  the  light  of  the  Christian  faith  many 
profound  problems,  in  church  and  state,  received  an  easy 
solution:  the  duty,  rights,  and  destiny  of  individuals  and 
society,  were  more  clearly  recognised  than  ever ;  and  where 
this  faith,  this  central  principle  in  the  government  of  the 
world,  is  not  known  and  applied,  partially  at  least,  no  revo- 
lutions, however  extensive,  can  accomplish  any  permanent 
good  to  society,  though  every  throne  upon  earth  fall,  and 
every  government  be  dissolved.  The  heedless,  impetuous, 
and  generous  impulses  of  the  masses,  can  accomplish  no 
good,  unless  explained  and  guided  by  the  light  of  the  gos- 
pel ;  for  in  a  corrupt  age  the  masses  become  the  easy  and 
pliable  instruments  of  ambitious  men,  who  deceive  them  with 
the  charming  sounds  of  liberty^  legitimacy^  reform^  universal 
suffrage,  improvement,  which,  in  the  sense  they  apply  them, 
experience  soon  proves  to  be  but  empty  names,  phantoms 
which  never  satisfy,  and  illusions  that  leave  the  world  dis- 
appointed as  in  a  thousand  ages  antecedent.    Liberty,  order, 

2* 


18 


INTRODUCTION. 


government ! — what  are  these  ?  They  are  not  character, 
they  are  not  destiny :  they  are  but  means  to  develop  and 
establish  these  :  and  we  should  beware,  when  we  lay  our 
hand  to  the  work  of  innovation,  lest  we  confound  true  liberty, 
good  order,  and  good  government,  with  the  imperfections 
and  wants  of  our  nature  which  they  are  intended  to  relieve. 
It  is  not  enough  that  we  employ  such  attractive  and  plausible 
terms  in  our  speeches  and  writings ;  we  must  also  clearly 
show  that  the  measures  we  propose  are  adequate  to  the 
desired  ends. 

Again :  we  talk  of  popular  elements,  the  popular  mind, 
the  instincts  of  the  masses,  which  some  think  they  anticipate 
with  prophetic  exactness;  but  the  masses  are  capable  of 
recognising  rather  than  of  discovering  great  and  practical 
truths.  History  does  not  furnish  an  example  in  which 
the  instincts  of  the  masses  originated  a  single  great  truth 
that  influenced  the  destinies  of  the  human  race :  truths  of 
this  nature  have  always  originated  in  the  minds  of  gifted 
and  thinking  men,  and  when  once  proclaimed  were  recognised 
and  embraced  by  the  masses  to  whom  they  were  proposed. 
Hence,  every  wise  and  honest  man,  in  view  of  his  own  dig- 
nity and  his  relation  to  the  interests  of  the  church  and  the 
world,  should  be  calmj  and  raise  himself  above  the  dreams 
of  the  masses,  and  so  avert  the  natural  results  of  the  delu- 
sive and  absurd  schemes  of  instinct  and  ignorance.  What 
we  want,  to  guide  the  multitude  in  its  primitive  tendencies, 
is  character,  which,  in  its  highest  and  best  sense,  so  rarely 
exists  in  this  day.  What  is  character  ?  It  is  firmness  of 
will,  connected  practically  with  sound  and  fixed  principles. 
The  two  must  combine  in  the  constitution  of  a  pure  and 
noble  spirit.  Sound  principles  without  firmness  of  will  are 
powerless ;  and  firmness  of  will  without  sound  principles  is 
destructive.  Besides,  sound  principles  are  immutable,  and 
though  unpopular  in  one  age,  they  will  become  popular  in 
another ;  and  hence  they  should  never  be  compromitted,  in 


INTRODUCTION. 


19 


a  single  instance,  to  the  whims  and  prejudices  of  an  age, 
but  be  preserved  and  maintained  firmly  till  they  shall  3'ege- 
nerate  and  reform  succeeding  times. 

To  apply  these  remarks :  Shall  the  system  of  Methodism, 
which  has  been  brought  to  its  present  noble  state — so  ra- 
tional, so  stable,  so  consistent,  so  holy,  so  useful  to  commu- 
nity, and  such  a  blessing  to  mankind — a  system  which 
originated  in,  and  has  been  preserved  by,  the  special  opera- 
tions and  effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  special  inter- 
positions of  divine  providence — be  tampered  with,  or  sub- 
jected to  vague  and  doubtful  experiments,  as  if  it  were  a 
system  of  mere  human  policy  and  wisdom  ?  In  the  emphatic 
language  of  Mr.  Wesley,  it  is  a  work  of  God  and  ap- 
proved as  it  has  been,  and  still  is,  of  God,  if  we  would  en- 
sure his  continued  blessing,  we  must  pause  long  before  we 
admit  any  fundamental  change  whatever.  The  system  is  in 
no  embarrassment ;  it  retains  its  original  vigor  and  purity, 
and  its  inherent  energies  are  unimpaired  and  unbroken  :  as 
strict  as  ever  is  it  in  its  requisitions,  as  impartial  in  its  ap- 
plication, and  as  ample  in  its  privileges.  It  is  not  a  revo- 
lution of  the  system  in  any  essential  particular  we  need, 
however  we  may  admit  certain  circumstantial  modifications ; 
but  a  revolution  in  the  practice  both  of  the  people  and  the 
preachers  the  system  is  designed  so  admirably  to  govern. 

It  is  much  easier  with  some  persons  to  pursuade  them- 
selves that  the  cause  of  declension,  or  the  reason  of  slow 
progress,  at* any  time,  is  a  fault  or  defect  in  some  part  of  the 
system,  than  in  their  own  and  a  general  deficiency  in  zeal, 
or  piety,  or  consistency,  or  perseverance.  They  beguile 
their  consciences  by  supposing  that  the  system  does  not  work 
well;  and  it  gratifies  their  ambition  to  be  esteemed  as  framers 
or  promoters  of  new  schemes  and  important  amendments. 

Let  our  tests  be  relaxed,  and  a  greater  latitude  in  opijiion 
be  allowed,  and  resistless  will  be  the  tendency  of  Methodism 
to  dissolution.    We  want  no  new  tests,  nor  any  modifica- 


20 


INTRODUCTION. 


tions  of  old  ones^  nor  any  new  theories ;  we  need  a  rich  and 
general  eflPusion  of  divine  grace — the  power  of  God,  and  not 
the  wisdom  of.  man — the  spirit  of  love,  and  not  that  of  the 
world — a  renewed  dedication  to  God,  and  conformity  to  the 
doctrine  and  disipline  of  the  Methodist  Church ;  and  this 
will  be  all  the  material  reform  we  require  to  preserve  our 
purity,  and  insure  the  favor  of  God  in  all  time.  ^^The  en- 
tire economy  of  Methodism,  both  as  to  its  spiritual  and 
temporal  prosperity,  may  now  be  considered  to  have  attained 
such  a  degree  of  maturity  and  perfection,  as  -is  not  likely 
soon  to  admit  of  any  material  improvement.'^* 

Men  who  propose  reform  in  fundamental  matters  should 
have  great  judgment  and  principle,  a  large  preponderance 
of  the  deliberative  faculties,  reasoning  closely,  combining 
accurately,  advancing  cautiously,  developing  slowly  every 
new  conclusion,  and  balancing  justly  the  interests  of  all 
concerned ;  men  possessing  a  comprehensiye  knowledge  of 
the  philosophy  of  Methodism  in  its  origin,  principles,  laws, 
usages,  designs,  operations,  and  adaptations ;  men  who  can 
discriminate  between  the  errors  and  defects  of  administration, 
and  the  genius  of  the  system — between  errors  in  application 
and  the  true  principles  of  the  government — men  who,  with 
a  clear  and  deep  insight  into  human  nature,  and  the  circum- 
stances and  real  wants  of  the  times,  understand  the  science 
of  adaptations,  which  is  the  true  philosophy  of  government 
in  church  and  state.  Such  men  not  only  fully  understand 
the  objects  for  which  Methodism  was  originally  established, 
but  have  a  profound  and  jealous  regard  for  all  vital  interests; 
so  that  should  they  propose  any  new  regulation  for  greater 
simplicity  in  preaching,  or  greater  utility  in  administering 
the  sacraments,  or  greater  vigor  in  the  whole  administrative 
department,  or  greater  amplitude  of  means  in  developing 
the  inherent  power  of  Methodism,  it  will  stand  forth  so 


*  Dr.  Warren's  Digest,  p.  18,-1827. 


INTRODUCTION. 


21 


clearly  and  prominently  before  the  world,  that  all  shall  see 
and  embrace  it  at  once  as  good  and  desirable,  and  an- 
swerable to  the  wants  of  the  times.  This  is  spiritual  wis- 
dom in  the  highest  degree,  and  God,  the  founder  and  pre- 
server of  Methodism,  when  required,  if  it  ever  should  be, 
will  call  forth  the  men,  and  qualify  them  for  the  work  of 
reform  or  improvement.  It  is  men  of  this  class  who  are 
now  at  the  helm  of  Methodism  in  England  and  America ; 
and  they  propose  no  change  or  modification  of  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Class  Meeting,  but  advocate  it  still  in  its  original 
simplicity,  and  lament  whenever  they  see  it  invaded,  dispa- 
raged, or  neglected ;  and  hence  we  may  infer,  that  no  reform 
or  modification  is  required  on  the  subject  by  the  times. 

If  reform  were  required  in  this  essential  particular,  or  in 
any  other  vital  element  of  our  government,  the  worst  mea- 
sure that  could  be  adopted  would  be  the  incorporation  of  a 
popular  political  element,  for  this  would  be  a  political  remedy 
to  cure  a  spiritual  evil,  and  into  the  final  result  must  enter 
a  proportionable  degree  of  poltiical  spirit.  Such  a  device 
would  be  a  concentrated  curse,  that  would  infect  the  whole 
constitution  of  Methodism  with  a  mortal  disease,  which  the 
most  splendid  abilities  could  not  subdue.  Spiritual  evils 
can  be  corrected  only  by  spiritual  remedies.  It  is  a  practical 
and  heedless  surrender  of  our  purity  and  integrity,  when- 
ever, for  decision  and  firmness  in  the  maintainance  of  our 
principles,  and  moderation  in  our  temper,  we  substitute 
principles  and  regulations  political  in  their  nature,  and  cal- 
culated only  for  political  objects.  Indeed,  no  schemes  of 
worldly  policy  that  may  indirectly  or  incidentally  advance 
Christianity  (and  Methodism  is  Christianity)  should  ever 
be  allied  to  our  church-government.  The  great  primitive 
design  of  Methodism  is — ^^to  spread  scriptural  Christianity 
over  the  land,'^*  and  over  the  world ;  and  in  its  doctrines. 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  viii.  p.  299,  English  ed. 


22 


INTRODUCTION. 


in  its  spirit^  in  its  influence,  in  its  relation  to  other  cliurclies, 
and  to  our  country  and  all  other  lands,  and  in  its  entire 
history,  Methodism  must  directly  pursue  this  great  design, 
upon  the  immutable  basis  of  the  Scriptures — God's  own 
pure  word — from  which  alone  must  be  derived  the  reason 
for  any  change  or  modification  of  our  government  which 
occasion,  at  any  time,  and  any  where,  may  clearly  and 
necessarily  require.  This  is  true  scriptural  liberty,  confined 
within  its  own  proper  limits — those  of  the  Bible;  and 
Methodism  then,  with  a  divine  freedom  and  energy,  goes  forth 
upon  its  sublime  mission,  surviving  every  form  of  coeval 
change  and  convulsion  in  church  and  state,  because  exempt 
from  every  element  of  corruption  and  decay,  and  unfettered 
by  bonds  of  a  political  or  worldly  nature. 

But  if  men  are  dissatisfied  with  the  vital  principles  and 
institutions  of  Methodism,  they  ought  quietly  to  withdraw 
from  the  connection,  and  not  remain  to  agitate  those  who  are 
quiet,  and  endeavor  to  pull  down  or  modify  what  it  has  cost 
so  much  to  build  up  and  complete.  No  one,  preacher  or 
private  member,  is  bound  to  embrace  the  Methodistic  form 
of  Christianity;  but  having  embraced  it,  it  is  his  solemn 
duty  to  conform  to  it,  jealously  to  guard  it,  and  transmit  it 
unimpaired  to  posterity,  and  not  perpetually  agitate  the 
family  with  ideas  and  efibrts  of  pretended  improvements, 
which  the  people  generally  believe  would  be  disastrous  to 
themselves  and  their  children.  Common  honesty  demands 
that  they  neither  inveigh  against  nor  depreciate  what  they 
are  pledged  sacredly  to  observe  and  defend,  or,  if  they  can- 
not conscientiously  conform  any  longer  to  the  constitution 
and  government  of  the  Methodist  church,  that  they  quietly 
withdraw,  and  seek  association  elsewhere  more  congenial. 

The  principles  of  primitive  Methodism  we  should  ever 
keep  before  our  minds ;  for,  as  time  rolls  on,  and  the  chan- 
nels through  which  they  are  transmitted  are  multiplied, 
they  may  gradually  and  insensibly  undergo  modifications, 


INTRODUCTION. 


23 


and  lose  mucli  of  their  former  power  and  freshness.  The 
novelty  of  the  circumstances  that  accompanied  their  first 
development  being  past,  and  more  than  a  century  elapsed 
since  they  assumed  the  form  of  Methodism,  we  should  grasp 
them  with  a  firmer  hand,  and  ever  with  a  renovated  ardor. 
And  now  that  we  live  in  an  age  animated  by  constant  ex- 
citements, and  in  which  life  and  strength  are  divided  among 
multiplying  objects  of  great  interest,  such  as  many  benevo- 
lent associations  and  religious  enterprises,  each  requiring  a 
proportion  of  time,  and  thought,  and  support,  it  is  the  more 
necessary  that  we  increase  our  vigilance  over  ourselves  as 
Christians,  and  observe  more  faithfully  the  institutions  of 
the  church  as  Methodists.  The  great  danger  is,  that  with 
so  many  particular  objects  of  absorbing  interest  before  us, 
we  will  extend  comparatively  but  a  small  share  of  attention 
to  our  strictly  religious  duties,  and  the  time  and  attention 
that  should  be  given  most  devoutly  to  the  weekly  services 
and  peculiar  institutions  of  the  church,  will  be  diverted  to 
worldly  matters  and  inferior  duties.  The  great  danger  is, 
that  we  will  sacrifice  the  former  to  the  latter,  at  least  so  far 
as  to  confine  our  religious  duties  wholly  to  the  Sabbath,  and 
devote  the  rest  of  the  week  wholly  to  the  multiplying  objects 
of  this  stirring  and  impetuous  age. 

It  requires  great  wisdom  and  resolution  to  pursue  with 
safety  this  path  of  danger.  When  interests  so  exciting 
and  diverse,  yet  not  conflicting,  demand  our  constant  care, 
what  but  divine  wisdom  can  direct  us  where  properly  to 
draw  the  dividing  line,  and  what  less  than  divine  resolution 
can  enable  us  to  give  each  their  due  proportion  of  attention? 
What  less  than  immortal  energy  and  skill  can  hold  these 
interests  in  harmony  and  equilibrium  ?  Who,  without  a 
holy  fortitude  and  firmness,  can  so  superintend  and  enjoy 
the  great  blessings  and  institutions  of  national  morality,  as 
at  the  same  time  to  preserve  and  maintain  the  greater  bless- 
ings and  institutions  of  piety,  and  guard  them  perfectly  in 


24 


INTRODUCTION. 


their  original  simplicity  and  purity  ?  As  the  former  hold 
the  relation  of  effects  and  causes  to  the  latter,  the  latter 
cannot  be  neglected  without  necessarily  impairing  the  value 
and  efficiency  of  the  former;  and  the  process  may  be  so 
gradual  and  insensible,  that  shortly  nearly  the  whole  energy 
of  the  church  may  be  concentrated  in  the  support  of  the 
societies  and  enterprises  of  national  morality,  and  the  ser- 
vices of  the  church  degenerate  into  a  splendid  and  imposing 
formality.  The  only  safe  guard  against  this  apprehended 
result  is  the  exercise  of  an  undiminished  zeal  in  discharg- 
ing religious  duties  in  every  particulaTy  and  observing, 
punctually,  promptly,  and  regularly,  the  institutions  of  the 
church  in  every  department. 

As  riches,  intelligence,  and  influence  increase,  tempta- 
tions to  pride,  independence,  and  worldliness  also  increase  3 
and  hence  there  is  the  greater  necessity  that  the  church  in- 
crease proportion  ably  in  spirituality,  though  the  opposite 
has  generally  been  the  result.  In  poverty,  trial,  and  perse- 
cution the  church  has  always  flourished  the  most,  because 
then  it  depended  exclusively  upon  God  for  prosperity.  The 
circumstantial  glory  of  the  church  can  never  be  confounded 
with  its  spiritual,  without  a  rapid  declension,  and  its  ultimate 
subversion,  and  Grod  will  reconstruct  it  in  its  original  purity 
and  majesty  through  the  instrumentality  of  new  agents  and 
new  circumstances — agents  who  become  the  leaders  in  re- 
formations—and circumstances  that  form  the  events  of  the 
the  times.  The  circumstantial  greatness  of  our  church  is, 
indeed,  an  occasion  of  profound  gratitude  to  God,  and  a 
means  of  astonishing  influence  in  advancing  his  kingdom 
among  men ;  but  it  is  also  an  occasion  of  appalling  danger 
to  its  inherent,  substantial,  and  spiritual  character,  which  is 
its  only  true  glory,  and  which  can  be  preserved  only  by  the 
faithful  discharge  of  all  its  spiritual  duties,  and  the  spiritual 
observance  of  all  its  wise  and  peculiar  regulations.  Here  I 
take  my  stand,  and  with  prophetic  certainty  can  anticipate 


INTRODUCTION. 


25 


its  advancing  glory  with  the  lapse  of  revolving  ages,  and 
catch  its  distant  shout  of  holy  triumph  on  the  completion 
of  its  work  at  the  end  of  time.  Divest  it,  however,  of  its 
pure  spiritual  character,  and  it  is  destined  to  fall  and  mingle 
with  the  promiscuous  and  venerable  ruins  of  worldly  wisdom 
and  ambition.  Nor  can  I,  without  dismay,  see  any  one  of 
its  fundamental  regulations,  substantially  evangelical  in 
their  nature,  gradually  becoming  obsolete  by  habitual  ne- 
glect— regulations  originated  in  its  incipiency,  effective  and 
renovating  in  its  progress,  and  that,  under  the  blessing  of 
God,  now  constitute  us  what  we  are  among  the  churches  of 
Christendom. 

Let  us  preserve  with  devotion  every  thing  in  Methodism 
truly  and  essentially  Wesleyan,  because,  in  the  great  iiw.er 
factSj  the  heart  of  the  gospel,  Methodism  has  found  her  true 
resting  place.  Let  us  never  leave  the  old  beaten  paths,  how- 
ever others  may  abandon  and  endeavor  to  despoil  them — 
others  who,  under  the  pretence  of  remodelling,  would  dis- 
organize; who,  in  the  vain  hope  of  recalling  the  church  to 
her  duty,  would  lead  her  farther  from  her  appropriate  work 
and  field  of  labor.  If  we  believe  every  thing  essentially 
and  substantially  Methodistic  to  be  essentially  and  sub- 
stantially evangelical,  then  there  is  no  more  necessity  for 
change  or  abandonment  here  than  there  is  in  the  gospel, 
and  abandonment  or  change  would  be  as  unwise  in  the  one 
as  in  the  other ;  in  a  word,  if  we  believe  Methodism  to  be 
substantially  the  gospel,  then  it  should  be  held  as  immutable 
as  we  hold  the  gospel,  and  as  united  essentially  with  the 
enterprises,  the  duration,  and  the  destiny  of  the  gospel. 
The  Methodist  church,  then,  as  it  is,  is  in  no  jeopardy. 
Let  it  never  be  removed  from  the  eternal  foundation  on 
which  it  reposes,  and  on  which  it  has  reposed  securely 
go  long.  That  it  has  flourished  with  accumulating  strength 
so  long  now,  amid  so  much  opposition  from  without,  and 
resisted  and  recovered  from  so  many  and  heavy  shocks  within 

3 


26 


INTRODUCTION. 


her  bosom^  and  acquired  so  miicli  spiritual  power  in  so  short 
a  time,  are  convincing  evidences  of  the  wisdom  and  strength 
of  her  constitution.  Let  us  ascribe  our  wonderful  suc- 
cesses, under  the  blessing  of  God,  to  a  faithful  and  practical 
adherence  to  the  evangelical,  and  consequently  unchangeable, 
nature  of  our  doctrines  and  institutions ;  and  let  us  attri- 
bute any  and  every  failure  of  the  past  to  departure  from 
these,  or  neglect  of  these,  and  be  assured,  that  failures  will 
follow,  in  number  and  consequence,  as  we  depart  from  or 
neglect  primordial  Methodism.  The  truth  of  the  gospel  is 
the  primordial  substance  of  Methodism ;  and  may  its  con- 
centrated influence  be  felt  in  every  extremity  of  the  system  ! 
The  destitution  of  wisdom,  or  of  ability,  or  of  moral 
principle,  such  as  is  characteristic  of  ambitious  and  corrupt 
men,  may  impede  the  progress  of  Methodism,  or  embarrass 
P  its  process  in  development,  but  this  is  no  proof  of  defect  in 

the  system;  it  is  rather  an  incapacity  to  apply  the  system, 
which  we  must  be  vigilant  to  detect  and  prompt  to  correct. 
What  is  the  principle  of  a  system  ?  It  is  its  truth,  its 
operative  cause,  its  ground  of  action,  its  universal  and  un- 
changeable power,  its  whole  and  indestructible  vitality,  pro- 
ducing the  same  results  substantially  under  all  circumstances 
and  in  all  ages.  This  is  the  gospel — this  is  Methodism. 
Appendages,  circumstances,  are  not  the  principle :  they 
give  full  development  to  the  principle  in  producing  its  legi- 
timate results.  Christian  communion  is  a  principle  of 
of  Methodism,  and  the  Class  Meeting  is  but  a  form  or 
mode  of  developing  it — an  appendage  that  leads  it  out  to 
its  legitimate  results.  >  As  good  a  mode  or  appendage  has 
never  yet  been  devised  by  the  wisdom  of  man,  much  less  a 
better;  and  let  all  modern  theorists  and  opposers  of  the 
present  form,  and  those  who  are  its  friends,  and  yet  are 
doubtful  of  its  suitableness  to  the  present  state  of  the 
church,  and  even  those  who  conform  to  it  simply  for  con- 
science' sake,  beware,  lest,  in  substituting  what  they  may  re- 


INTRODUCTION. 


27 


gard  as  a  wiser  and  more  suitable  form^  they  abandon  or 
sacrifice  the  substance,  and  thus  divest  Methodism  of  one 
of  the  essential  principles  of  the  gospel ;  lest^  at  least^  they 
embarrass  and  render  doubtful  the  development  of  Christian 
communion,  which,  under  its  present  form,  is  easy,  natural, 
and  sure;  lest  they  substitute  means  and  measures  which 
are  complicated  and  counteractive  for  those  which  are 
simple  and  productive  of  the  legitimate  result;  lest,  instead 
of  removing  a  supposed  evil,  they  introduce  and  establish  a 
real  one.  As  it  is  the  fixed  and  unchangeable  principle  of 
fire  to  burn  all  combustible  materials  with  which  it  comes 
in  contact,  unless  the  circumstances  of  contact  be  unfavor- 
able, so  we  should  associate  the  principle  of  Christian  com- 
munion with  no  modes  or  appendages  that  would  diminish 
its  full  intensity  of  spiritual  blessing,  or  prevent  its  full 
development  of  spiritual  comfort  and  utility.  Here  we 
should  be  cautious,  firm,  and  confident,  and  not  precipitate, 
inconsistent,  and  doubtful,  or  what  we  seize  as  an  improve- 
ment, and  which  may  indeed  prove  to  be  a  temporary  good, 
will  eventually  turn  out  to  be  a  real  evil,  and  have  its  day 
and  die.  How  few  men  can  think  and  plan  for  others  with- 
out danger  to  themselves  and  the  future !  Whatever  changes 
in  the  modal  or  circumstantial  system  of  Methodism  may 
really  be  needed  for  the  improvement  and  elevation  of 
Methodism,  we  deny  that  any  such  necessity  extends  to  the 
Class  Meeting :  the  best  that  the  church  can  do  is  to  reap 
all  its  inestimable  advantages  by  a  speedy  revival,  and  a 
faithful,  universal,  and  perpetual  observance  of  it.  Let  the 
church  expend  its  time  and  energies  in  . this  direction,  and 
have  done  with  the  dreams  and  novelties  of  supposed  im- 
provement in  this  efficient  and  established  institution.  Set 
the  mighty  system  of  Class  Meetings  in  universal  operation, 
and  keep  it  in  operation,  and  it  is  impossible  to  tell  where 
its  influence  will  not  be  felt.  It  will  then  give  almighty 
life  and  power  to  Methodism  in  all  its  elements  and  enter- 


28 


INTRODUCTION. 


prises,  and  furnish  the  church  with  new  and  adequate  re- 
sources for  new  and  more  enlarged  measures  for  the  evange- 
lization of  the  world.  The  deep  pulsations  of  the  great 
heart  of  Methodism  will  be  felt  to  its  farthest  limits,  and 
be  prolonged  till  they  reach  the  ends  of  the  earth.  As  a 
truth  once  developed  and  established  can  never  be  lost, 
though  it  may  be  suspended  or  remain  stationary  for  a  time, 
so  the  efficiency  of  Class  Meetings,  once  tested  and  estab- 
lished, remains  the  same,  though  suspended,  and  when  re- 
vived, will  exert  all  its  original  and  legitimate  power.  And 
hence,  we  cannot  conceive  what  changes  or  new  states  of 
society,  or  what  advancements  in  civilization,  or  what  altera- 
tions and  improvements  in  civil  governments,  or  what  ex- 
pansion and  elevation  of  the  human  mind,  or  what  new 
forms  of  conventional  life,  or  what  achievements  of  the 
blessed  gospel  itself,  can  require  any  material  alterations  or 
amendment  of  the  Class  Meeting  system,  much  less  its 
abandonment  altogether.  Indeed,  we  believe,  as  Methodism 
is  a  form  of  Christianity  that  is  prominently  efficient  in 
advancing  man  in  these  respects,  the  annihilation  of,  or  a 
material  alteration  in,  the  present  system  of  Class  Meetings, 
which  is  one  of  the  principal  internal  sources  of  the  efficiency 
of  Methodism,  would  retard  the  progress  of  the  world  in 
these  great  matters.  Methodistic  truth,  which  is  but 
another  name  for  the  omnipotent  gospel,  if  it  be  allowed 
full  play,  is  capable  of  co-operating  powerfully  with  other 
evangelical  churches  in  bursting  every  bond,  and  bolt,  and 
bar,  and  chain,  though  made  of  iron,  and  of  surmounting 
every  obstacle,  however  formidable,  civil  or  ecclesiastical, 
that  have  held  mankind  so  long  in  bondage  and  in  ignorance. 
Let  us  never  abandon  one  of  its  principal  instruments,  that 
has  answered  this  object  so  well  and  so  long,  till  another 
is  proposed  in  its  stead  that  is  really  preferable.  As  the 
world  is  to  be  taken  as  it  is,  this  seems  intrinsically  to  an- 
swer the  utmost  want  and  wish  of  the  present  age,  and  we 


INTRODUCTION. 


29 


should  zealously  and  courageously  support  it;  and  the  world 
too,  in  time,  will  become  its  fast  friend  and  grateful 
supporter. 

The  church  is  the  world's  reformer,  because  it  is  the 
guardian  and  publisher  of  the  only  great  moral  truth  or 
principle  that  is  to  regenerate  the  realms  and  races  of  men ; 
the  only  organization  that  contains  the  central  fire  that  is 
to  transfuse  life  throughout  the  cold,  dead  mass  of  humanity ; 
the  only  association  of  truth-governed  men  that  holds  aloft 
the  light  of  sufficient  brightness  to  disperse  the  thick  dark- 
ness that  has  enveloped  the  world  for  sixty  centuries; 
the  only  herald  that  is  to  echo  and  re-echo  the  proclamation 
of  the  angels,  which  shall  be  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to 
all  men  the  only  agent  that  is  to  subdue  the  clamorous 
uproar  of  a  thousand  ages,  and  which  a  thousand  trials  have 
failed  to  do,  and  are  still  failing  to  do,  and  will  ever  fail  to 
do ;  the  only  class  of  men  gone  forth  to  scatter  the  seeds  of 
life  over  the  wide  desert  earth,  till  it  bloom  and  blossom  as 
the  rose'^  in  all  its  amplitude;  the  only  army  marshalled,  and 
on  the  march,  under  heaven's  own  colors  and  command,  and 
ever  advancing,  though  sometimes  slowly,  yet  never  retreat- 
ing, and  always  surely,  from    conquering  to  conquer/^  till 

the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  all  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;'^  the  only  agent  that,  with  the  still- 
ness of  the  lightning's  speed,  is  to  telegraph  the  knowledge 
of  the  love  and  will  of  God  along  the  interlacing,  countless, 
and  endless  wires  of  Providence,  down  to  the  end  of  the 
prolonged  series  of  future  generations.  0,  could  we  stand 
upon  an  observatory  high  as  heaven,  which  angels  occupy, 
and  look  back  and  forward  in  the  world's  history,  what  a 
sublime  consummation  of  the  deep-laid  and  connected  plans 
of  Grod,  through  the  instrumentality  of  his  church,  would 
be  spread  before  our  vision  ! 

The  church  is  not  bewildered,  as  once  it  was,  in  darkness, 
calling  out,  as  in  other  days,     Watchman,  what  of  the 


30 


INTRODUCTION. 


night  If  doubt  exist  at  all,  it  is  where^  and  what,  and  how 
stupendous,  will  be  her  next  achievements  in  the  emancipa- 
tion and  evangelization  of  the  human  race.  In  this  age, 
every  form  of  church  and  civil  government  in  the  civilized 
world  is  undergoing  an  ordeal  of  fierce  flame,  and  what  is 
not  substantially  evangelical  most  surely  must  be  subverted. 
Men  are  striving  to  get  down  through  the  superincumbent 
rubbish  of  ages  to  fundamental  principles,  and  to  build 
upon  immutable  foundations.  The  whole  past  has  been 
summoned  before  the  present,  and  by  the  present  is  being 
subjected  to  a  thorough  investigation,  and  the  Bible,  the 
book  of  God  and  of  time,  is  made  a  standard  of  investiga- 
tion and  improvement. 

A  characteristic  of  the  present  age,  obvious  on  every 
hand  to  thinking  men,  is  the  rapid  tendency  of  the  churches 
generally  to  formalism.  Carried  away  by  the  feverish  and 
countless  excitements  of  the  times,  the  prevailing  sects  of 
the  day  are  reposing  quietly  and  coldly  upon  their  respective 
systems,  as  safeguards  established  by  experiment  and  age. 
It  may  be  truly  said  of  every  evangelical  sect — our  own 
not  excepted — that  it  is  destitute  of  many  of  the  character- 
istics of  the  same  people  in  primitive  times.  They  are  all  the 
same  in  name,  and  it  may  be  in  fundamental  principles,  now, 
they  were  in  the  beginning;  but  which  of  them  has  preserved 
its  original  simplicity,  or  former  devotion,  or  early  spirit  of 
self-denial,  or  primitive  boldness  in  rebuking  sin,  or  com- 
passion and  zeal  in  seeking  to  save  sinners,  or  tenderness 
and  love  toward  each  other,  or  heavenly-mindedness  in  con- 
versation and  conduct  ?  These  were  the  bright  and  strong 
rays  of  the  glory  so  conspicuous  in  the  early  history  of  the 
evangelical  churches ;  but  now  each  seems  to  emulate  the 
other  in  pointing  to  its  numbers,  intelligence,  wealth, 
worldly  resources,  and  worldly  influence,  as  indications  of 
its  prosperity.  But  a  sufficient  refutation  of  this  mode  of 
determining  the  true  prosperity  of  a  church  is,  that  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


31 


churcli  of  Rome,  in  tliese  respects,  overtops  every  other 
churcli  in  Christendom,  and  it  is  undeniable  that  no  church 
in  Christendom  is  as  scrupulously  and  strictly  formal  and 
corrupt  as  she  is.  And  yet  the  evangelical  churches  are  not 
past  recovering.  The  fathers  in  Israel,  anxious  to  check  and 
remove  the  evil  of  formalism,  are  recalling  the  children  to 
the  old  landmarks,  and  to  the  former  firm  positions  of  their 
founders ;  retaining  all  of  real  excellence  and  improvement 
unknown  and  inaccessible  to  the  founders — that  the  simplicity, 
humility,  zeal,  moral  beauty,  dignity,  and  efficiency  of  each 
sect,  may  be  heightened  in  proportion  to  the  urgency  and 
exigency  of  the  times,  and  the  expanding  importance  of 
revolving  years.  The  principles  of  primitive  Methodism 
are  fixed  facts,''  and  invariably  productive  of  the  same 
results.  One  of  these  is  the  substantial  efficiency  of  the 
Class  Meeting.  Let  the  universal  cry  be  heard  for  its 
revival. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  present  age — and  the  same 
is  true  of  the  ministry  generally  of  our  own  church — is  a 
shrinking  from  responsibility  to  discharge  official  duties  in 
the  administration  of  discipline,  and  in  carrying  out  into 
practical  application  those  principles  and  doctrines  of  creed 
and  government  on  which  our  church  was  founded,  and  on 
which  it  must  ever  depend  for  permanency  and  success. 
This  timidity  is  ascribable,  in  a  great  degree,  to  the  want  of 
moral  courage;  that  is,  ministerial  duties  have  been  neg- 
lected so  long  and  to  such  an  extent  by  our  immediate  pre- 
decessors and  ourselves,  that  few  among  us  can  be  found 
who  are  courageous  enough  to  meet  the  existing  difficulties 
face  to  face  and  heart  to  heart,  though  we  all  perceive  them, 
and  lament  their  growing  power.  It  is  not  surprising,  then, 
that  the  doctrines  of  expediency  should  be  so  often  substi- 
tuted for  the  claims  of  fundamental  principles,  which,  in 
their  legitimate  application,  might,  it  is  true,  subject  the 
church  to  a  loss  of  numbers  and  worldly  influence,  and  the 


32 


INTRODUCTION. 


ministry  to  much  temporary  trouble  and  inconvenience. 
Nor  is  it  surprising  that  we  should  so  often  seek  to  conform 
our  administrations  to  the  maxims  and  regulations  of  con- 
ventional society,  which  fall  infinitely  short  of  the  great 
objects  of  church-government,  rather  than  to  the  laws  of 
God,  which  are  the  only  appropriate  ground- work  of  church- 
government.  If  Grod  reign  not  supreme  in  civil  govern- 
ments and  conventional  society,  he  should  in  the  church, 
which  is  his  own  kingdom.  If  civil  rulers  enforce  not 
practically  (and  they  never  will  till  the  world  is  regenerated) 
the  principles  of  the  gospel,  the  ministry  of  the  church 
should  do  it,  or  the  moral  government  of  the  world  will  be 
gradually  weakened,  and  soon  be  destroyed.  We  have  not 
only  a  standard  of  duty,  clear  as  sunshine,  in  the  gospel, 
but  a  noble  example  of  courage  and  faithfulness  in  the 
fathers  and  founders  of  our  system.  It  is  one  thing,  in  a 
corrupt  age,  as  in  that  of  Luther,  or  of  Wesley,  to  revive 
the  pure  principles  of  the  gospel,  and  originate  a  church- 
government  answerable  to  the  wants  of  the  times,  and  quite 
another  to  maintain  those  principles,  and  sustain  and  im- 
prove that  government  as  may  be  required  from  age  to  age. 
It  may  not  require  as  great  abilities  in  the  latter  as  in  the 
former  case,  but  the  same  courage  and  fealty  are  required 
in  the  one  as  in  the  other :  in  the  former,  in  resisting  and 
correcting  existing  evils,  and  in  the  latter,  in  opposing  and 
anticipating  abuses  and  new  forms  of  evil  that  spontaneously 
spring  forth  from  the  moral  depravity  of  every  succeeding 
age  of  the  world.  We  do  not  assume  that  our  fathers 
were  in  advance  of  us  in  the  knowledge  of  the  means  of 
the  world's  regeneration;  but  we  do  maintain,  that  we  are 
far  behind  them  in  the  simple  piety  and  dauntless  courage 
which  they  possessed,  and  which  are  required  to  impel  the 
world  with  the  greatest  momentum  possible  onward  to  its 
final  elevation  and  perfection.  Nor  do  we  assume  that 
the  world  has  retroG:raded  from  what  it  was  made  in  their 


INTRODU^:!TION. 


83 


day.  No;  but  we  do  maintain  that  it  is  not  what  it  might 
have  been,  and  should  now  be,  and  that  this  is  so  because 
we  have  failed,  and  still  fail,  to  cultivate  as  sedulously,  and 
practise  as  faithfully,  the  moral  attributes  which  they  culti- 
vated and  practised.  They  were  men  of  invincible  moral 
courage — we  should  be  so  :  they  were  men  of  earnestness 
and  indomitable  zeal — we  should  be  so  :  they  were  men  of 
the  most  strenuous  efforts  and  perseverance — we  should  be 
so :  they  were  men  of  the  purest  sincerity  and  simplest 
piety — we  should  be  so  :  they  were  men  of  inflexible  firm- 
ness and  consistency — we  should  be  so  :  they  were  men  of 
gravity  and  soberness,  because  with  the  ideas  of  the  great 
and  good  works  before  them,  inwrought  and  abiding  in  their 
very  souls,  they  could  not  indulge  in  the  least  undue  levit^ 
of  manner — we  should  be  so  :  they  were  men  of  the  purest 
and  severest  self-denial,  that  they  might  concentrate  their 
whole  energies  upon  the  work  of  God  and  the  salvation  of 
man — we  should  be  so :  they  were  men  of  one  work,  and 
but  one,  and  that  an  incessant  one,  a  lifetime  one,  to  arouse 
and  direct  the  world  to  God,  and  keep  it  in  life  and  motion — 
we  should  be  so.  Such  as  they  were,  we  should  be,  and 
more,  because  with  what  they  have  placed  in  our  hands,  we 
can,  under  the  blessing  of  the  same  God  that  blessed  them, 
do  more  for  the  world's  redemption  than  they  did.  Let  us 
not  think  and  act  as  if  the  future  were  a  blank  to  us,  and 
so  transfer  the  great  events  to  others,  but  as  crowded  with  un- 
paralleled moral  grandeur  and  importance,  and  as  depending 
upon  us,  in  our  ministerial  sphere,  for  development.  Let  us 
not  suppose,  that  our  work  is  not  intimately  and  essentially 
connected  with  the  whole  future;  but,  undaunted  by  any  ap- 
pearances that  may  be  foreboding,  develop  the  residue  of 
latent  energy  in  the  gospel  committed  to  our  hands,  and 
instil  its  simple  and  mighty  truths  into  the  hearts  of  the 
people,  inspired  the  most  by  the  certain  connection  of  our 
labors  with  the  remotest  and  brightest  period  of  the  world's 


34 


INTRODUCTION. 


history,  and  by  the  belief  that  across  time's  stormy  ocean  we 
are  guiding  man  to  that  new  world  for  which  he  has  been  in 
search  in.  vain  so  loDg.  Let  us  not  tremble  at  the  blackened 
political  heavens  above  uS;  and  the  waves  of  political  chaos 
and  confusion  that  roll  high  and  heavily  around  us,  for  there 
will  be  no  rest  to  the  world  till  the  Pilot  of  the  Tiberian 
sea  says,  Peace  be  still/'  and  he  is  in  the  ship  with  us. 
There  are  breaks  in  the  clouds,  and  bright  spots  on  the 
waters,  and  the  landing  may  not  be  afar.  We  occupy  the 
ranks  from  which  our  fathers  have  retired,  and  the  banner 
of  the  great  Captain  of  our  salvation  still  waves  over  us, 
and  soon  we  must  retire  to  give  place  to  a  new  generation 
of  saints ;  but  the  victory  is  not  doubtful :  we  shall  have 
scarcely  finished  our  campaign,  and  retired  from  the  battle- 
field, before  new  shouts  of  triumph  shall  go  up  from  earth 
to  heaven,  and  the  final  battle  and  the  final  victory  may  be 
close  at  hand.  Methodism  contains  within  it  substantially  all 
the  elements  required  for  the  full  play  of  man's  entire  being 
in  his  highest  and  last  development  in  this  life;  and  let  her 
never  listen  to  any  modification  of  her  circumstantial  nature 
that  does  not  clearly  and  intimately  concern,  either  directly 
or  remotely,  the  highest  spiritual  interests  of  the  whole 
human  race. 

Our  ecclesiastical  government,  in  all  its  fundamental  re- 
gulations, is  constituted  sufficiently  broad  and  deep  for  the 
development  of  the  whole  experimental  and  practical  power 
of  the  gospel ;  containing  the  same  requisitions  that  are 
made  in  the  Bible,  and  invested  with  all  that  is  required  to 
accomplish  the  great  work  of  the  Church  of  God.  In  these 
respects,  we  repeat,  Methodism  needs  no  improvement. 
Stand  here — stand  firmly.  If  there  is  spiritual  declension 
in  the  church  anywhere  and  to  any  extent,  stand  by  the 
good  old  constitution — change  not  that  in  any  essential  par- 
ticular, which  is  now  in  harmony  with  the  gospel,  and  is  all 
we  want  as  a  guide  and  rule.    Follow  the  guide — mind  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


85 


rule.  If  one  must  go  down,  let  it  be  the  corrupt  part  of 
of  the  church,  not  the  constitution.  If  one  must  suffer, 
let  it  be  the  delinquent  and  disobedient,  not  our  wholesome 
and  immutable  laws.  If  we  decline,  let  it  be  in  numbers, 
not  in  graces,  nor  in  our  regard  for  the  principles  of  truth. 
If  change  must  come  for  the  worst,  let  it  be  in  the  worldly 
portion  of  the  church,  and  not  in  the  spirituality,  purity, 
and  wisdom  of  our  constitution.  Let  us  dwindle  almost  to 
disappearance  from  the  earth,  if  it  must  be,  like  the  church 
in  the  ark,  or  the  seven  tlioiisand  among  the  mountains 
of  rebellious  Israel,  or  the  few  names  in  Sardis,  whose 
garments  were  unspotted,^^  rather  than  change  our  consti- 
tution, and  fill  the  world  with  the  glory  of  a  worldly  great- 
ness, and  load  the  atmosphere  with  moral  death.  Let  but 
a  few,  if  no  more,  stand  by  the  old  ship,  with  its  anchor 
clinched  in  the  eternal  rocks,  and  the  time  of  revival  and 
enlargement  shall  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  latter  house 
shall  be  greater  than  that  of  the  former,'^  and  it  will  be  in- 
finitely better  then,  to  have  the  same  old  constitution  to 
greet  and  bless  the  church,  as  it  has  blessed  us,  than  to  sub- 
ject a  regenerated  posterity  to  the  painful  necessity  of  re- 
storing what  we  had  taken  away,  of  removing  what  we  had 
added,  and  of  repairing  what  we  had  mutilated.  An  en- 
tirely spiritual  church  would  be  satisfied  with  our  present 
form  of  church-government :  then  let  us  be  such,  and  we 
shall  be  satisfied  with  it.  Let  us  be  crucified  to  the  world 
in  all  its  forms.  Let  us  moderate  our  passion  for  fine 
churches,  splendid  pulpit  abilities  and  accomplishments, 
innovations  on  the  services  of  public  worship,  and  modifi- 
cations in  the  existing  means  of  grace.  Let  us  beware  of 
the  charm  of  popular  favor,  and  check  our  solicitude  for 
popular  opinion.  By  simplicity,  by  purity,  by  humility,  by 
self-denial,  by  zeal,  by  faith  and  good  works,  by  entire  con- 
formity to  the  gospel,  let  us  rather  seek  to  render  popular 
favor  and  popular  opinion  subservient  to  the  glory  of  God. 


36 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  state  has  in  it  no  principle  that  remotely  subserves 
spiritual  ends  that  we  do  not  already  possess,  and  which  it 
has  not  borrowed  from  the  church  :  and  hence  any  modifi- 
cation or  addition,  in  church  matters,  upon  civil  principles, 
cannot  promote  the  spirituality  of  the  church.  All  we  need, 
we  repeat,  is  a  spiritual  revival  in  the  ministry  and  mem- 
bership :  a  conformity  to  our  spiritual  rules  and  regulations 
already  adopted  and  in  force.  If  we  cannot  obtain  this  re- 
vival and  conformity,  then  we  shall  raise  our  voice  for  the 
execution  of  our  laws,  by  which  existing  evils  may  be  cor- 
rected, and  our  church  purified  and  prepared  for  the  forth- 
coming events  of  the  stupendous  future,  rather  than  for 
the  adoption  of  a  system  that,  while  it  cannot  correct  exist- 
ing evils,  must  add  greatly  to  them,  and  so  accelerate  the 
time  of  the  downfall  of  our  church. 

Finally:  there  are  two  modes  of  refuting  a  false  opinion. 
First,  to  confront  and  compare  it  with  truth  ;  and,  secondly, 
to  consider  it  by  itself,  and  see  whether  it  is  consistent 
throughout.  If  fundamental  principles  are  false,  the  most 
logical  minds  must  fall  into  many  contradictions  and  ab- 
surdities, and  in  examining  their  arguments,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  acknowledge  the  justness  of  their  conclusions,  or 
we  must  reject  their  premises  altogether.  But  if  funda- 
mental principles  are  true,  no  refinement  or  force  of  sophistry 
can  refute  the  conclusions  deduced  from  them :  and  such 
are  the  great  principles,  as  we  shall  now  see,  on  which  the 
institution  of  the  Classes  in  our  church  is  firmly  and  im- 
movably founded  :  principles  universally  recognised  and 
admitted  as  true  by  those  acquainted  with  the  Bible  and 
the  spiritual  nature  of  the  Christian  church. 


PART  I. 


CHAPTER  1. 

ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 

Methodism,  in  its  doctrinal  and  experimental  nature, 
is  the  revival  of  primitive  and  evangelical  Christianity. 
The  institution  of  the  class  meeting,  it  is  true,  was  inciden- 
tal, and  as  such,  it  is  peculiarly  an  institution  of  Methodism, 
but  in  its  substantial  nature,  it  is  evangelical  and  divine. 
Circumstantially  it  is  the  offspring  of  divine  Providence, 
but  substantially  it  contains  inherently  the  spirit,  essence,  and 
efficiency  of  the  gospel.  So  long  as  it  retains  these,  it  can 
no  more  be  neglected  or  suspended  by  Methodists  without 
serious  consequences  to  personal  and  practical  piety,  the 
dignity  and  influence  of  the  church,  and  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  welfare  of  mankind,  than  the  gospel  can  be.  As 
it  originated  in  the  Wesleyan  revival  of  pure  and  spiritual 
Christianity,  so  it  will  wane  with  the  decline,  in  any  degree, 
of  the  purity  and  simplicity  of  original  Methodism.  It 
may  be  confidently  affirmed,  that  wherever,  and  in  pro- 
portion as  interest  in  the  class  meeting  has  waned,  there 
the  experimental  power  of  Methodism  has  waned,  and  the 
converse  is  also  true.  The  history  of  this  institution  of 
our  church,  therefore,  is  not  a  matter  of  ordinary  importance, 
but  of  vital  concern  to  Methodists,  as  it  will  elucidate  the 
nature  and  benefits  of  the  institution,  as  well  as  enable  us 
to  refute  the  many  groundless  objections  of  its  opposers,  and 

4  37 


38 


ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


strengthen  the  confidence  of  those  who  have  given  it  but  a 
partial  consideration  and  occasional  observance. 

I.  The  very  essence  of  the  social  institution  of  the  class 
meeting  seems  to  have  been  elemental  in  Methodism  in  its 
earliest  incipiency,  though  then  it  was  not  called  by  that 
name^  nor  even  thought  of  as  such.  From  the  commence- 
ment of  Methodism  it  has  existed  in  nature  at  least;  indeed, 
Methodism  originated  in  the  class-room.  In  November, 
1729,  four  young  gentlemen  of  Oxford — Mr.  J ohn  Wesley, 
fellow  of  Lincoln  College ;  Mr.  Charles  Wesley,  student  of 
ChrisVs  Church ;  Mr.  Morgan,  commoner  of  Christ  Church, 
and  Mr.  Kirkham,  of  Merton  College — began  to  spend  some 
evenings  in  the  week  together,  in  reading,  chiefly,  the  Greek 
Testament.  The  next  year,  two  or  three  of  Mr.  John 
Wesley's  pupils  desired  the  liberty  of  meeting  with  them ; 
and  afterward  one  of  Mr.  Charles  Wesley's  pupils.  It  was 
in  1732,  that  Mr.  Ingham,  of  Queen's  College,  and  Mr. 
Broughton,  of  Exeter,  were  added  to  their  number.  To 
these,  in  April,  was  joined  Mr.  Clayton,  of  Brazen  nose, 
with  two  or  three  of  his  pupils.  About  the  same  time, 
Mr.  James  Hervey  was  permitted  to  meet  with  them,  and 
in  1735,  Mr.  Whitefield.  They  were  all  zealous  members 
of  the  Church  of  England;  not  only  tenacious  of  all  her 
doctrines,  so  far  as  they  knew  them,  but  of  all  her  discipline, 
to  the  minutest  circumstance.  They  were  likewise  zealous 
observers  of  all  the  University  statutes,  and  that  for  con- 
science' sake.  But  they  observed  neither  these,  nor  any 
thing  else  further  than  they  conceived  it  was  bound  upon 
them  by  their  one  book,  the  Bible;  it  being  their  one  desire 
and  design  to  he  downright  Bible  Christians ;  taking  the 
Bible,  as  interpreted  by  the  primitive  church  and  our  oion, 
for  their  WHOLE  AND  SOLE  RULE.  The  one  charge  then 
advanced  against  them  was,  that  they  were  ^righteous  over- 
much,' that  they  were  abundantly  too  scrupulous^  and  too 
strict,  carrying  things  to  great  extremes  ;  that  they  toolc  the 


ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


39 


Scriptures  in  too  strict  and  literal  a  sense ;  so  THAT  IP 

THEY  WERE  RIGHT,  FEW    INDEED    WOULD    BE  SAVED.'^* 

^'  Some  young  men  at  Oxford  united  themselves  together,  in 
1729,  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  each  other's  pious  reso- 
lutions, and  observing  the  religious  services  with  strictness. 
They  aimed  particularly  at  the  more  rigid  compliance  with 
the  precepts  of  the  New  Testament  than  was  usual  in  the 
church,  and  devoted  themselves  to  the  works  of  love,'^  &c.f 
This  was  in  1729.  ^^In  October,  1735,  Mr.  John  and  Charles 
Wesley,  and  Mr.  Ingham,  left  England  with  a  design  to  go 
and  preach  to  the  Indians  in  Georgia,^ ^ J  and  after  their  ar- 
rival, when  they  reached  Savannah,  not  finding,  as  yet,  any 
door  open  for  pursuing  their  main  design,  they  considered  in 
what  manner  they  might  be  most  useful  to  the  little  flock  at 
Savannah.  And  they  agreed,  ''1.  To  advise  the  more 
serious  among  them  to  form  themselves  into  a  sort  of  little 
society,  and  to  meet  once  or  twice  a  week,  in  order  to  reprove, 
instruct,  and  exhort  one  another.  2.  To  select  out  of  those 
a  smaller  number  for  a  more  intimate  union  with  each  other, 
which  might  be  forwarded,  partly  by  our  conversing  singly 
with  each  other,  and  partly  by  inviting  them  all  together  to 
our  house;  and  this,  accordingly,  we  determined  to  do  every 
Sunday  in  the  afternoon. Here  we  have  the  Methodist 
church,  in  its  origin,  instituting,  and  observing,  weekly ^  the 
very  means  of  grace  that  subsequently  assumed  a  more 
formal  nature,  and  became  a  prominent  characteristic  of  her 
organization.  II    The  same  measure  Mr.  Wesley  adopted  soon 

*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  v.  p.  246. 

f  Encyclopedia  Amer.,  vol.  viii.  p.  442. 

\  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  v.  p.  247. 

I  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iii.  pp.  33,  34. 

II  "  Here  we  see,"  says  Dr.  Whitefield,  "  the  first  rudiments  of  the 
future  economy  of  classes  and  bands,  which  has  had  no  small  influence 
in  promoting  tho  success  of  the  Methodists  beyond  any  other  denomi- 
nation of  Christians,  not  immediately  favored  by  the  civil  power."  Life 
of  Wesley,  vol.  ii.  p.  15. 


40 


ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


after  at  Frederica.  June,  Thursday^  10,  (1736.)  We 
began  to  execute  at  Frederica  what  we  had  before  agreed  to 
do  at  Savannah.  Our  design  was,  on  Sundays,  in  the 
afternoon,  and  every  evening,  after  piiblic  service,  to  spend 
some  time  with  the  most  serious  of  the  communicants  in 
singing^  reading,  and  conversation.  This  evening  we  had 
only  Mark  Hird.  But  on  Sunday,  Mr.  Hird  and  two  more 
desired  to  be  admitted.  After  a  psalm  and  a  little  conver- 
sation, I  read  Mr.  Law's  ^  Christian  Perfection,'  and  con- 
cluded with  another  psalm.''*  And  so  Mr.  Wesley  led 
class,  in  fact,  after  public  service,  though  the  first  time  in 
Frederica  he  had  but  one,  and  the  next  time  but  three, 
present — a  capital  example  for  Methodist  preachers  through- 
out the  bounds  of  Methodism.  Soon  after  he  formed 
another  class  :  Wednesday,  16,  (June),  another  little  com- 
pany of  us  met :  Mr.  Reed,  Davidson,  Walker,  Delamotte, 
and  myself.  We  sung,  read  a  little  of  Mr.  Law,  and  then 
conversed.  Wednesdays  and  Fridays  were  the  days  we 
fixed  for  constant  meeting."'}'  Twice  a  week — and  yet 
many  of  us  think  once  a  loeeh  too  often,  and  do  not  even 
attend  that  often,  and  very  many  not  at  all.  The  method 
above,  Mr.  Wesley  generally  observed  in  Savannah.  Writing 
by  Mr.  Ingham  to  his  friends  in  England,  he  observes :  ^^Some 
time  after  the  evening  service,  as  many  of  my  parishoners 
as  desire  it,  meet  at  my  house,  (as  they  do  also  on  Wednes- 
day evening,)  and  spend  about  an  hour  in  prayer,  singing, 
and  mutual  exhortation.  A  smaller  number  (most  of  those 
who  design  to  communicate  the  next  day)  meet  here  on 
Saturday  evening;  and  a  few  of  these  come  to  me  on  the  other 
evenings,  and  pass  half  an  hour  in  the  same  employment."^; 

On  his  return  to  England,  Mr.  Wesley  revived  this  form 
of  the  class  meeting,  which,  it  seems,  had  been  discontinued 


Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  25.  f  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  26. 

X  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  34. 


ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


41 


in  Ills  absence  in  America.  ^'This  evening  (May  1,  1738,) 
our  little  society  began,  which  afterward  met  in  Fetter  Lane. 
Our  fundamental  rules  were  as  follows : 

^^In  obedience  tp  the  command  of  God  by  St.  James,  and 
by  the  advice  of  Peter  Bohler,  it  is  agreed  by  us, 

^^1.  That  we  will  meet  together  once  a  week  to  ^confess 
our  faults  one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for  another,  that  we 
may  be  healed/ 

"2.  That  the  persons  so  meeting  be  divided  into  several 
hands  or  little  companies^  none  of  them  consisting  of  fewer 
than  five,  or  more  than  ten  persons. 

^^3.  That  every  one,  in  order,  speak  as  freely,  plainly,  and 
concisely  as  he  can,  the  real  state  of  his  heart,  with  his 
several  temptations  and  deliverances,  since  the  last  time  of 
meeting. 

^^4.  That  all  the  bands  have  a  conference  at  eight,  every 
Wednesday  evening,  begun  and  ended  with  singing  and 
prayer. 

5.  That  any  who  desire  to  be  admitted  into  this  society 
be  asked,  '  What  are  your  reasons  for  desiring  this  ?  Will 
you  be  entirely  open,  using  no  kind  of  reserve  ?  Have  you 
any  objections  to  any  of  our  orders  V  (which  may  then  be 
read.) 

^^6.  That,  when  any  new  member  is  proposed,  every  one 
present  speak  clearly  and  freely  whatever  objection  he  has 
to  him. 

'^7.  That  those  against  whom  no  reasonable  objection  ap- 
pears, be,  in  order  for  their  trial,  formed  into  one  or  more 
distinct  bands,  and  some  person  agreed  on  to  assist  tliem. 

^^8.  That  after  two  months^  trial,  if  no  objection  then  ap- 
pear, they  may  be  admitted  into  the  society. 

9.  That  every  fourth  Saturday  be  observed  as  a  day  of 
general  intercession. 

10.  That  on  the  Sunday  seven-night  following  be  a 
general  love-feast^  from  seven  till  ten  in  the  evening. 


4%  ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 

^^11.  That  no  particular  member  be  allowed  to  act  in  any 
thing  contrary  to  any  order  of  the  society  :  and  that  if  any 
persons,  after  being  thrice  admonished,  do  not  conform 
thereto,  they  be  not  any  longer  esteemed  as  members*'^* 

Among  these  rules,  especially  the  1st  and  3d,  we  recognise 
the  very  substance  of  the  class  meeting. 

Mr.  Wesley  formed  societies  wherever  and  wbenever  he 
could :  WednesdaT/,  4  (A;pril,  1739.)  At  Baptist  Mills, 
(a  sort  of  a  suburb  or  village  about  half  a  mile  from  Bris- 
tol,) I  offered  the  grace  of  God  to  about  fifteen  hundred 
persons,  from  these  words :  ^  I  will  heal  their  backsliding ; 
I  will  love  them  freely.'  In  the  evening,  three  women 
agreed  to  meet  together  weekly,  with  the  same  intention  as 
those  at  London,  viz.  ^To  confess  their  faults  one  to 
another,  and  pray  one  for  another,  that  they  may  be  healed.' 
At  eight,  four  young  men  agreed  to  meet,  in  pursuance  of 
the  same  design. ''f 

II.  The  origin  of  classes,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term, 
as  it  is  now  understood  and  applied  by  the  Methodists,  was 
providential,  and  the  following  is  the  historical  account  of 
it.    Mr.  Wesley  briefly  refers  to  it  first  in  his  Journal: 

3Ionday,  {Fehriiary  15,  1742.)  Many  (in  Bristol^  met 
together  to  consult  on  a  proper  method  for  discharging  the 
public  debt;  and  it  was  at  length  agreed,  1.  That  every 
member  of  the  society,  who  was  able,  should  contribute  a 
penny  a  week.  2.  That  the  whole  society  should  be 
divided  into  little  companies  or  classes — about  twelve  in 
each  class  And,  3.  That  one  person  in  each  class  should 
receive  the  contribution  of  the  rest,  and  bring  it  into  the 
stewards  weekly.'' J  Mr.  Wesley  having,  at  this  time,  no 
idea  that  the  institution  of  class-meeting  would  grow  out  of 
this  temporal  plan,  makes  but  a  brief  and  general  reference 
to  the  occasion;  but,  subsequently,  when  Methodism  ex- 


-  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  66,  67.   f  I^^i^.  vol.  iii.  p.  127.   %  Ibid.  p.  242. 


ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


43 


tended  widely  in  England,  and  the  labor  of  watching  over 
the  societies  was  too  great  for  him,  providence  suggested  to 
him  a  plan  suitable  to  the  itinerant  nature  of  his  minis- 
try, and  of  this  he  gives  a  particular  and  detailed  statement 
in  his  Plain  Account  of  the  People  called  Methodists'^ — 
a  part  of  which  we  here  transcribe  :  But  as  much  as  we 
endeavored  to  watch  over  each  other,  we  soon  found  some 
who  did  not  love  the  gospel.  I  do  not  know  that  any  hypo- 
crites crept  in ;  for,  indeed,  there  was  no  temptation  :  but 
several  grew  cold,  and  gave  way  to  the  sins  that  had  long 
easily  beset  them.  We  quickly  perceived  there  were  many 
ill  consequences  of  suffering  these  to  remain  among  us.  It 
was  dangerous  to  others ;  inasmuch  as  all  sin  is  of  an  infec- 
tious nature.  It  brought  such  a  scandal  on  their  brethren 
as  exposed  them  to  what  was  not  properly  the  reproach  of 
Christ.  It  laid  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  others, 
and  caused  the  truth  to  be  evil  spoken  of.  We  groaned 
under  these  inconveniences  long,  before  a  remedy  could  be 
found.  The  people  were  scattered  so  wide  in  all  parts  of 
the  town,  from  Wapping  to  Westminster,  that  I  could  not 
easily  see  what  the  hehavior  of  each  person  in  his  own 
neighborhood  was:  so  that  several  disorderly  walkers  did 
much  hurt  before  I  was  apprized  of  it.  At  length,  while 
we  were  thinking  of  quite  another  thing,  we  struck  upon  a 
method,  for  which  we  have  cause  to  bless  Giod  ever  since. 
I  was  talking  with  several  of  the  society  in  Bristol,  con- 
cerning the  means  of  paying  the  debts  there,  when  one* 
stood  up,  and  said,  '  Let  every  member  of  the  society  give 
a  penny  a  week,  till  all  are  paid.'  Another  answered,  '  But 
many  of  them  are  poor,  and  cannot  afford  to  do  it.'  '  Then,' 
said  he,  ^  put  eleven  of  the  poorest  with  me ;  and  if  they 
give  any  thing,  well :  I  will  call  on  them  weekly ;  and  if 
they  can  give  nothing,  I  will  give  for  them  as  well  as  for 


Captain  Foy.    Wesley's  Works,  vol.  vii.  p.  316. 


44 


ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


myself.  And  each  of  you  call  on  eleven  of  your  neigh- 
bors weekly ;  receive  what  they  give,  and  make  up  what  is 
wanting.'  It  was  done.  In  a  while,  some  of  these  informed 
me,  they  found  such  and  such  a  one  did  not  live  as  he 
ought.  It  struck  me  immediately,  ^  This  is  the  thingy 
THE  VERY  THING,  we  have  wanted  so  long.^  I  called 
together  all  the  leaders  of  the  classes,  (so  we  used  to  term 
them  and  their  companies,)  and  desired,  that  each  would 
make  a  particular  inquiry  into  the  behavior  of  those  he 
saw  weekly.  They  did  so.  Many  disorderly  walkers  were 
detected.  Some  turned  from  the  evil  of  their  ways.  Some 
were  put  away  from  us.  Many  saw  it  with  fear,  and  re- 
joiced unto  God  with  reverence.  As  soon  as  possible,  the 
same  method  was  used  in  London,  and  all  other  places.* 
Evil  men  were  detected  and  reproved.  They  were  borne 
with  for  a  season.  If  they  forsook  their  sins,  we  received 
them  gladly;  if  they  obstinately  persisted  therein,  it  was 
openly  delared  that  they  were  not  of  us.  The  rest  mourned 
and  prayed  for  them,  and  yet  rejoiced  that,  as  far  as  in  us 
lay,  the  scandal  was  rolled  away  from  the  society.^ ^'j' 

Mr.  Wesley  adds :  At  first  they  (the  leaders)  visited 
each  person  at  his  own  house ;  but  this  was  soon  found  not 
so  expedient.  And  that  on  many  accounts  :  (1.)  It  took 
up  more  time  than  most  of  the  leaders  had  to  spare.  (2.) 
Many  person^  lived  with  masters,  mistresses,  or  relations, 
who  would  not  suffer  them  to  be  thus  visited.  (3.)  At  the 
houses  of  those  who  were  not  so  averse,  they  often  had  no 
opportunity  of  speaking  to  them  but  in  company ;  and  this 
did  not  at  all  answer  the  end  proposed,  of  exhorting,  com- 
forting, or  reproving.  (4.)  It  frequently  happened,  that 
one  alB&rmed  what  another  denied.    And  this  could  not  be 


*  "  Whether  in  Europe  or  America — Wesley's  Works,  vol.  vii.  p. 
316. 

t  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  v.  pp.  178,  179. 


ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


45 


cleared  up  without  seeing  them  together.  (5.)  Little  mis- 
understandings and  quarrels  of  various  "kinds  frequently 
arose  among  relations  or  neighbors;  effectually  to  remove 
which^  it  was  needful  to  see  them  all  face  to  face.  Upon 
all  these  considerations^  it  was  agreed  that  those  of  each 
class  should  meet  all  together.  And  by  this  means,  a  more 
full  inquiry  was  made  into  the  behaviour  of  every  person. 
Those  who  could  not  be  visited  at  home,  or  no  otherwise 
than  in  company,  had  the  same  advantage  with  others. 
Advice  or  reproof  was  given  as  need  required,  quarrels 
made  up,  misunderstandings  removed :  and,  after  an  hour 
or  two  spent  in  this  labor  of  love,  they  concluded  with 
prayer  and  thanksgiving.^^^ 

On  this  subject,  Mr.  Watson  observes  :  ^^In  the  discipline 
of  Methodism,  the  division  of  the  society  into  classes  is  an 
important  branch.  Each  class  is  placed  under  a  person  of 
experience  and  piety,  who  meets  the  others  once  a  week, 
for  prayer,  and  inquiry  into  the  religious  state  of  each,  in 
order  to  administer  exhortation  and  counsel.  The  origin 
of  these  classes  was,  however,  purely  accidental.  The 
chapel  at  Bristol  was  in  debt ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  each 
member  of  the  society  should  contribute  one  penny  a  week 
to  reduce  the  burden.  The  Bristol  Society  was,  therefore, 
divided  into  classes ;  and,  for  convenience,  one  person  was 
appointed  to  collect  the  weekly  subscriptions  from  each  class, 
and  to  pay  the  amount  to  the  stewards.  The  advantage  of 
this  system,  when  turned  to  a  higher  purpose,  at  once 
struck  the  methodical  and  practical  mind  of  Mr.  Wesley; 
he,  therefore,  invited  several  earnest  and  sensible  men''  to 
meet  him;  and  the  society  in  London  was  divided  into 
classes  like  that  in  Bristol,  and  placed  under  the  spiritual 
care  of  these  tried  and  experienced  persons.  At  first  they 
visited  each  person,  at  his  own  residence,  once  a  week ;  but 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  v.  pp.  179,  180. 


ORIGIN  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


the  preferable  mode  of  bringing  each  class  together  weekly 
was  at  length  adopted/^'''  Respecting  the  division  of  the 
Society  in  London  into  classes,  Mr.  Wesley  observes : 

March,  Thursday,  25,  (1742.)  I  appointed  several 
earnest  and  sensible  men  to  meet  me,  to  whom  I  showed 
the  great  difficulty  I  had  long  found  of  knowing  the  people 
who  desired  to  be  under  my  care.  After  much  discourse, 
they  all  agreed  there  could  be  no  better  way  to  come  to  a 
sure,  thorough  knowledge  of  each  person,  than  to  divide 
them  into  classes,  like  those  at  Bristol,  under  the  inspection 
of  those  in  whom  I  could  most  confide.  This  was  the  origin 
of  our  classes  at  London,  for  which  I  can  never  sufficiently 
praise  Grod;  the  unspeakable  usefulness  of  the  institution 
having  ever  since  been  more  and  more  manifest. 

Let  the  reader  carefully  bear  in  mind  this  history  of  the 
origin  of  class  meetings,  that  he  may  more  clearly  under- 
stand their  nature,  obligation,  and  benefits — especially  that 
he  may  see  the  full  force  of  the  arguments  we  shall  adduce 
in  support  of  their  obligation  as  a  test  of  membership  in  our 
church.  Doubtless,  their  material  relation  to  an  itinerant 
ministry  has  already  been  forcibly  suggested  to  his  mind, 
and  this  relation  will  appear  the  more  forcibly  in  the  pro- 
gress of  this  work.  The  brief  history  we  have  given  is 
sufficient  for  the  purposes  of  this  treatise. 


Watson^s  Life  of  Wesley,  p.  96.       f  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  246. 


CHAPTER  II. 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 

1.  There  is  nothing  new  in  the  principle  on  which  the 
class-meeting  system  is  founded,  though  the  Methodists 
invest  the  system  with  more  importance  than  other  churches 
have  done.  The  system  grows  out  of  the  nature  of  things. 
It  is  a  means  adopted  to  regulate,  perpetuate,  and  promote 
the  results  of  an  evangelical  reformation,  by  associating  the 
converts  in  the  closest  Christian  fellowship  and  co-operation, 
by  separating  the  church  as  effectually  as  possible  from  the 
world,  and  by  bringing  the  church  more  immediately  under 
the  pastoral  oversight  of  the  preachers.  Mr.  Wesley,  from 
the  beginning,  proceeded  upon  these  considerations. 

Mutual  communion  was  prevalent  among  the  English 
parochial  clergy,  before  the  act  of  uniformity,  and  the  fol- 
lowing is  an  example :  Christians  must  drive  an  open 
and  a  free  trade;  they  must  teach  one  another  the  mysteries 
of  godliness.  Tell  your  experience  ;  and  tell  your  conflicts; 
and  tell  your  comforts.  As  iron  sharpeneth  iron,  as  rub- 
bing of  the  hands  maketh  both  warm,  and  as  live  coals 
maketh  the  rest  to  burn,  so  let  the  fruit  of  society  be 
mutually  sharpening,  warming,  and  influencing.  Christians 
should  also  bewail  their  failings,  infirmities,  deadness,  cold- 
ness, narrowness,  and  unprofitableness,  one  to  another;  to 
see  whether  others  have  been  in  the  same  state ;  what 
course  they  took  ;  and  what  remedy  they  procured.  Many 
souls  may  perish  through  too  much  modesty  and  reserve. 
In  the  prophets'  time,  when  proud  scorners  talked  vainly, 

47 


4& 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


and  did  what  they  lisfc,  then  they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake 
often  one  to  another.  No  doubt,  they  spake  of  Grod;  of  his 
counsels,  and  of  his  works  and  ways ;  of  his  providence  and 
goodness,  and  of  the  baseness  of  atheistical  thoughts. 
Would  Christians  thus  meet,  and  exchange  words  and 
notions,  they  might  build  up  one  another ;  they  might  heat 
and  injBame  one  another;  and  they  might  strengthen  and 
encourage  one  another,  as  the  brethren  did  St.  Paul.  And 
have  we  not  express  command  for  this  duty  of  conference  ? 
^  Thus  shall  ye  say  every  one  to  his  neighbor.  What  hath 
the  Lord  answered  ?  and,  What  hath  he  spoken  ?  '  (Jer. 
xxiii.  35.) 

Baxter,  in  his  stirring  and  powerful  work,  ^^The  Re- 
formed Pastor,^'  issued  in  1655,  maintains  substantially  the 
same  ground.     ^^The  first  and  chief  point,^'  says  he, 

which  I  have  to  propose  to  you,  is  this.  Whether  it  be 
not  the  unquestionable  duty  of  the  generality  of  ministers 
throughout  the  country  to  set  themselves  presently  to  the 
work  of  instructing,  individually,  all  that  are  committed  to 
their  care,  who  will  be  persuaded  to  submit  thereto  ?  That 
people  must  be  taught  the  principles  of  religion  and  mat- 
ters of  greatest  necessity  to  salvation,  is  past  doubt  among 
us.  That  they  must  be  taught  it  in  the  most  edifying, 
advantageous  way,  I  hope  we  are  agreed.  That  personal 
conference,  and  examination,  and  instruction  have  many 
excellent  advantages  for  their  good,  is  no  less  beyond  dis- 
pute. That  personal  instruction  is  recommended  to  us  by 
Scripture,  and  by  the  practice  of  the  servants  of  Christ, 
and  approved  by  the  godly  of  all  ages,  is,  so  far  as  I  can 
find,  without  contradiction.  It  is  no  less  certain,  that  so 
great  a  work  as  this  is  should  take  up  a  considerable  part 
of  our  time.  And  it  is  equally  certain,  that  all  duties 
should  be  done  in  order,  as  far  as  possible,  and,  therefore, 


*  Media  of  Mr.  Isaac  Ambrose. 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


49 


should  have  their  appointed  times.' The  measure  which 
he  adopted  to  do  this  varies^  it  is  true,  circumstantially  from 
the  class  meeting,  but  substantially  it  is  the  same.  We 
spend  Monday  and  Tuesday/^  says  he,  ^^from  morning 
almost  to  night;  taking  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  families  in  a 
week,  that  we  may  go  through  the  parish,  in  which  there 
are  upwards  of  eight  hundred  families  in  a  year;f  and  I 
cannot  say  yet  that  one  family  hath  yet  refused  to  come  to 
me,  and  only  a  few  persons  excused  themselves  and  shifted 
it  off.  And  I  find  more  outward  signs  of  success  with  most 
that  do  come,  than  from  all  my  public  preaching  to  them. 
If  you  ask  me  what  course  I  take  for  order  and  expedition, 
I  may  here  mention,  that,  at  the  delivery  of  the  catechisms, 
I  take  a  catalogue  of  all  the  persons  of  understanding  in  the 
parish,  and  the  clerk  goeth  a  week  before  to  every  family, 
to  tell  them  what  day  to  come,  and  at  what  hour — one 
family  at  eight  o'clock,  the  next  at  nine,  and  the  next  at 
ten,  &c. ;  and  I  am  forced  by  the  number  to  deal  with  a 
whole  family  at  once ;  but,  ordinarily,  I  admit  not  any  of 
another  family  to  be  present.  Brethren,"  he  adds,  do  I 
now  invite  you  to  this  work  without  the  authority  of  God, 
without  the  consent  of  all  antiquity,  without  the  consent  of 
the  reformed  divines,  or  without  the  conviction  of  your  own 
consciences  ?  See  what  the  Westminster  Assembly  speak 
occasionally,  in  the  Directory,  about  the  visitation  of  the_ 
sick  :  ^  It  is  the  duty  of  the  minister,  not  only  to  teach  the 
people  committed  to  his  charge  in  public,  but  privately ; 
and  particularly  to  admonish,  exhort,  reprove,  and  comfort 
them  upon  all  seasonable  occasions,  so  far  as  his  time, 
strength,  and  personal  safety  will  permit.  He  is  to  admo- 
nish them  in  time  of  health  to  prepare  for  death.  And, 

*  Reformed  Pastor,  pp.  77,  78. 

f  This  each  of  the  ministers  associated  with  him  also  did,  thus  making 
their  large  parish  something  like  a  large  circuit,  on  which  each  of  the 
preachers  and  leaders  visits  the  classes  so  many  times  a  year, 

5 


50 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


for  that  purpose,  they  are  often  to  confer  with  their  minister 
about  the  estate  of  their  souls/  &c. 

About  the  year  1677,  Dr.  Horneck,  Dr.  Woodward,  and 
Mr.  Smithies,  at  Cornhill,  by  their  sermons  and  lectures, 
were  made  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  many  young 
men,  whom  they  met  in  private  religious  meetings,,  and 
"  these,''  says  Dr.  Woodward,  soon  found  the  benefit  of 
their  conferences  one  with  another,  by  which  (as  some  of 
them  told  me  with  joy)  they  better  discovered  their  own 
corruptions,  the  devil's  temptations,  and  how  to  countermine 
bis  subtle  devices,  as  to  which  each  person  communicated  his 
experiences  to  the  rest.^'f 

The  Methodist  classes  are  exactly  conformable  to  the 
customs  of  the  early  propagation  of  Christianity.  After 
men  became  Christians,''  says  Paley,  much  of  their  time 
was  spent  in  prayer  and  devotion,  in  religious  meetings,  in 
celebrating  the  Eucharist,  in  conferences,  in  exhortations, 
in  preaching,  in  an  affectionate  intercourse  with  one  another, 
and  in  correspondence  with  other  societies."  J 

The  more  serious  clergy  in  England  "  held  weekly  private 
meetings  for  religious  edification,  and  it  is  probable  Mr. 
Wesley  had  heard  of  these  societies,  and  even  attended 
them  in  the  metropolis.  Wherever,  indeed,  a  revival  of 
serious  religion  has  taken  place,  and  ministers  have  been  in 
earnest  to  promote  it,  we  see  similar  means  adopted,  as  by 
Baxter  at  Kidderminster,  during  his  eminently  successful 
ministry  there, "§  The  plain  state  of  the  case  w'as  this  :  Grod 
had  given  Mr.  Wesley  large  fruits  of  his  ministry  in  various 
places,  from  which  he  was  called  away  from  time  to  time 
to  other  places,  when  his  people  were  ^^as  sheep  having  no 
shepherd,"  exposed  not  only  to  the  world,  but  to  the  perse- 

*  Reformed  Pastor,  pp.  79,  80. 

t  Account  of  the  Religious  Societies  in  London,  chap.  ii. 

X  Evidences  of  Christianity. 

^  Watson's  Life  of  Wesley,  p.  38. 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


51 


cuting  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England.  Hence,  Mr. 
Wesley  was  urged  by  the  necessity  of  the  case,  either  to 
provide  for  them  himself,  or  leave  them  without  religious 
care.  The  latter  he  could  not  do  consistently  with  the 
objects  of  his  ministry;  and  he  wisely  chose  the  former. 
But  he  carried  his  regulations  no  further  than  the  necessity 
of  the  case  required.  The  hours  of  service  were  in  no 
instance  to  interfere  with  those  of  the  Establishment,  and  ^ 
at  the  parish  church  the  members  were  exhorted  to  commu- 
nicate. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  though  the  Methodist  societies 
thus  originated  in  the  national  church,  in  their  interior 
organization  they  were  independent  of  its  ecclesiastical 
authority,  which  was,  in  fact,  an  original,  practical,  and 
partial  separation  from  the  Establishment;  yet  had  the 
Establishment  sanctioned  the  itinerant  labors  of  Wesley  and 
his  successors,  and  the  private  religious  meetings  which  he 
instituted,  the  great  body  of  Methodists  in  England  might 
have  been  retained  in  the  communion  of  the  national  church 
till  this  day.  The  constitution  of  the  Methodists,  therefore, 
was  a  matter  of  moral  necessity ;  and  their  final  separation 
from  the  Church  of  England,  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Wes- 
ley, was  a  right  guaranteed  to  them  both  by  Christian 
liberty  and  the  laws  of  their  country. 

II.  No  institution  of  Methodism  is  more  important  than 
that  of  the  classes — not  even  the  itinerancy ;  for  the  evange- 
lical fruits  of  the  itinerancy  cannot  long  be  preserved  without 
the  use  or  help  of  the  classes.  The  system  of  class  meet- 
ings may  not  be  required  by  those  churches  which  are 
provided  with  a  settled  ministry — residing  among  their 
flocks — making  themselves  acquainted  in  various  ways  with 
their  communicants — becoming  personally  acquainted  with 
the  religious  character  and  conduct  of  every  individual  in 


*  Watson's  Life  of  Wesley,  p.  92, 


52 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


their  charges — having  suitable  time,  place,  and  opportunity 
for  making  necessary  inquiries,  and  obtaining  necessary 
information,  that  they  may  give  particular  instruction, 
reproof,  exhortation,  or  advice,  as  occasion  may  require. 
But  to  an  itinerant  ministry,  such  as  ours  is,  all  this  is 
impossible.  The  time  of  appointment  to  one  field  of  labor 
is  so  short — and  so  much  of  this  time  is  necessarily  em- 
ployed in  breaking  up,  in  removing,  and  in  settling  when 
-the  pastor  reaches  his  new  field  of  labor  —  and  so  much 
in  riding  and  preaching — and  so  much  in  reading  and 
preparing  for  the  pulpit — and  so  much  in  necessary  absence 
from  a  portion  of  his  appointments  to  visit  other  parts 
of  his  circuit — that  he  has  but  a  small  proportion  left 
to  allow  him  to  become  acquainted  with  his  flock.  This 
was  the  deficiency  Mr.  Wesley  felt  so  sensibly,  and  to  sup- 
ply which  the  societies  were  divided  into  classes,  and 
leaders  appointed,  who  henceforth  became,  in  fact,  auxiliary- 
pastors,  and  should  be  men  of  irreproachable  life,  deep 
piety,  prudence,  and  experience,  each  residing  among  the 
members  of  his  class,  that,  becoming  acquainted  with  their 
deportment  in  society,  their  connexions  and  pursuits  in  life, 
their  peculiar  dispositions,  temptations,  trials,  and  afflictions, 
he  may  bestow  the  proper  spiritual  care  upon  them  indi- 
vidually. Thus,  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  the  leaders 
are  prepared  to  give  the  religious  counsel  occasion  may 
require.  Thus,  also,  they  are  prepared  to  report  to  the 
pastor  who  are  sick,  who  are  delinquent,  who  are  disorderly, 
who  are  walking  uprightly,  and  who  should  be  dealt  with 
according  to  the  discipline.  And  so,  through  the  aid  of 
faithful  class-leaders,  the  pastor  becomes  acquainted  with 
his  whole  field  of  labor,  and  is  assisted  in  providing  for  its 
wants.  Without  the  class-leaders,  it  is  evident,  those  who 
are  gathered  into  the  church  would  suffer  greatly  for  want 
of  pastoral  care. 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


53 


From  this  consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  classes,  we 
make  the  following  observations  : — 

1.  The  preacher  in  charge  of  a  circuit  or  station  is 
invested  with  authority  to  appoint  the  leaders,  because  he 
is  responsible  to  God  for  the  care  of  the  souls  committed 
to  his  oversight. 

2.  It  is  the  solemn  duty  of  the  preacher  in  charge  to 
remove  improper  and  unfaithful  leaders,  and  supply  their 
places  with  those  who  are  faithful  and  properly  qualified. 
And  in  the  selection  of  proper  men  he  can  advise,  if  need 
be,  with  the  senior  brethren,  local  preachers,  and  stewards 
of  his  charge. 

3.  The  preachers  and  leaders  should  co-operate  promptly, 
actively,  and  harmoniously  in  the  care  of  the  classes  :  the 
leader  in  his  attentions  to  his  class,  and  in  reporting  the 
delinquent,  the  disorderly,  and  the  sick  to  the  preacher; 
and  the  preacher  in  visiting  the  sick,  and  in  administering 
discipline  in  all  cases  of  delinquency  that  will  not  amend, 
and  in  all  cases  of  those  who  walk  disorderly.  If  the  leaders 
neglect  their  duty,  the  preacher  will  be  ignorant  of  the 
condition  of  his  charge,  and  the  church  must  suffer,  and 
the  preacher  be  discouraged ;  or  if  the  preacher  neglect  his 
duty,  faithful  leaders  will  become  discouraged,  and  the 
church  must  suffer.  Prompt,  energetic,  and  harmonious 
co-operation  between  the  preachers  and  leaders  is  indispen- 
sable to  the  purity,  success,  and  prosperity  of  the  Methodist 
church. 

4.  We  shall  here  consider  an  objection :  The  class 
should  have  power  to  elect  its  own  leader.^'  (1.)  In  almost 
all  cases,  the  class  is  so  well  satisfied  with  the  leader  pro- 
vided by  the  preacher,  as  to  prefer  him  to  all  others,  which 
is  a  proof,  de  facto,  that  the  classes  are  as  well  satisfied  as 
if  they  had  made  their  own  selection.  (2.)  Those  who  are 
best  qualified  to  be  leaders,  would  not  be  candidates  for  the 
office.    For  such  being  most  pious,  and   being  best  ac- 

5^ 


64 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


quainted  with  their  own  infirmities,  and  having  the 
humblest  views  of  their  gifts  and  graces,  would  be  most 
retiring,  and  thus  the  way  would  be  open  for  the  most 
forward,  aspiring,  and  unqualified — as  Charles  Wesley 
expresses  it : 

"  How  ready  lie  is  to  go, 

VS^hom  God  has  never  sent; 
How  cautious,  diffident,  and  slow, 
His  ciiosen  instrument." 

(3.)  In  the  competition  for  leaders,  the  class,  in  many 
cases,  would  be  divided,  and  warmth  and  bitterness  be 
excited.  The  leader  so  elected  would  look  with  prejudice 
upon  the  minority  as  his  opposers,  and  the  minority  would 
cherish  hostile  feeling  toward  him.  (4.)  In  the  stations 
the  female  classes  meet  separately,  and  cannot  become 
acquainted  with  the  deportment  and  qualifications  of  the 
candidates  for  the  ojfice,  and  so  would  not  be  able  to  select 
the  proper  leader.  (5.)  In  many  classes, -on  the  circuits 
and  stations,  the  majority  are  young  and  inexperienced, 
with  whom  a  good  singer,  with  a  good  stock  of  camp- 
meeting  and  revival  songs,  and  a  large  share  of  zeal,  would 
be  an  eligible  candidate;  and  prudent  counsels,  wise 
advice,  solid  piety,  and  much  experience,  would  not  enter 
into  the  essentials  of  qualification.  (6.)  There  would  be 
no  remedy  to  relieve  the  class  when  both  the  leader  and 
the  majority  of  the  class  should  become  lukewarm.  The 
majority  then  at  liberty  would  indulge  in  neglecting  class, 
and  engage  in  vain  and  frivolous  amusements,  which  the 
leader  might  call  innocent.  The  heart  of  the  pious  might 
bleed  in  vain ;  the  pious  part  of  the  class,  and  of  the 
church,  might  mourn  in  vain ;  and  there  would  be  no 
remedy.  The  blind  would  select  their  own  guide,  and  the 
ruin  of  both  would  be  inevitable.  (7.)  It  would  not  effect 
what  it  proposes.  The  object  proposed  is  to  give  to  each 
class  a  leader  of  its  own  selection.    But,  in  many  cases, 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


55 


the  minority  must  meet  with  a  leader  whom  they  have 
rejected.  (8.)  And,  finally,  such  a  method  is  in  direct 
conflict  with  the  authority  and  responsibility  of  the  pastor. 
He  is  responsible  for  the  spiritual  oversight  of  the  flock, 
and  hence  has  authority,  and  it  is  his  duty,  to  provide  the 
best  leaders  he  can  obtain  to  aid  him  in  his  work.  If  the 
classes,  therefore,  be  invested  with  the  right  to  choose  their 
leaders,  the  authority  of  the  pastor  is  repudiated,  and  his 
duty  cannot  be  discharged.  All  these  evils  are  avoided 
by  the  arrangement  that  exists  in  our  church. 

The  indispensable  necessity  of  the  class  meeting  as  an 
institution  of  the  Methodist  church  is  seen  in  another  re- 
spect. An  important  part  of  the  pastoral  work  of  our 
itinerant  ministry  cannot  be  performed  without  it.  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  leaders  to  ascertain  the  wants  of  the  poorer 
members,  that  relief  may  be  extended  to  them,  and  to  find 
out  who  are  sick,  that  the  pastor  may  visit  them.  Thus,  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  leader  to  see  his  members  once  in  the 
week,  either  in  class,  or,  if  absent,  at  home.  Such  is  the 
work  of  our  preachers,  especially  on  the  circuits,  that  in- 
formation on  these  particulars  cannot  be  obtained,  in  all 
cases,  without  the  aid  of  faithful  leaders ;  and  so,  without 
the  classes,  the  wants  of  the  church,  in  a  great  degree, 
must  be  neglected  by  the  pastor.  In  this  case,  how  many 
a  pious  saint,  amid  the  sufierings  and  temptations  of  sick- 
ness, would  languish  without  consolation  from  the  sympa- 
thizing pastor.  How  many  a  poor  Christian  would  sufibr, 
in  want  of  even  the  small  temporal  relief  which  the  church 
now  supplies.  And  not  until  the  needy  or  the  sick  had 
themselves  sent  intelligence  to  the  pastor,  could  he  ascer- 
tain what  services  were  required.  It  was  this,  among 
other  reasons,  as  we  have  seen,  that  caused  Mr.  Wesley  to 
adopt  this  desirable  and  useful  regulation;  and  as  the 
Methodist  ministry  remains  unchanged  in  its  nature,  the 
same  necessity  for  the  continuance  and  observance  of  the 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


regulation  exists  now,  as  then  suggested  and  justified  its 
adoption. 

The  indispensable  necessity  of  this  institution  of  our 
church  is  seen  in  another  respect.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
leader  to  inform  the  preacher  who  of  his  class  ^^walk  dis- 
orderly;^^ that  is,  are  guilty  of  any  impropriety  or  any  im- 
morality, that  the  proper  steps  in  the  administration  of  dis- 
cipline may  be  taken  by  him  who  has  the  charge  of  the 
church.  It  would  be  impossible  for  the  preacher,  without 
the  aid  of  the  leaders,  to  obtain  the  knowledge  of  all  such 
cases.  Engaged,  as  he  must  be,  from  time  to  time,  and  so 
long,  in  another  part  of  his  work,  and  none  being  officially 
authorized  to  inform  him,  many  a  case  of  delinquency  and 
immorality  would  transpire  in  his  absence,  and  never  reach 
his  knowledge  tiU  too  late  to  administer  the  proper  correction 
or  counsels  to  the  offender,  or  prevent  the  scandal  inflicted 
upon  the  church. 

In  a  word,  the  abolition  of  the  classes,  and  the  disbanding 
of  the  leaders,  would  be  disastrous  to  the  Methodist  church, 
and  it  would  be  impossible  to  determine  where  the  line  of 
ruin  should  be  drawn,  or  what  of  value,  except  doctrine, 
would  remain.  It  would  be  disastrous  to  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  our  church.  The  pastor,  as  we  have  seen,  could 
do  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  work  of  spiritual  care  :  the 
rest  must  be  wholly  neglected.  It  would  be  disastrous  to 
the  spiritual  fellowship  of  our  church.  The  bonds  of  union 
which  now  bind  the  leader  to  his  class,  and  the  members  of 
the  class  to  each  other,  would  be  greatly  weakened,  if  not 
wholly  severed;  the  incalculable  advantages  of  mutual 
counsel,  reproof,  and  encouragement,  would  be  lost ;  and  inti" 
mate  spiritual  union  and  communion  of  saints  would  no 
longer  exist.  It  would  be  disastrous  to  the  financial  interests 
of  our  church.  The  leaders  and  stewards,  in  this  respect, 
would  have  nothing  to  do,  nothing  to  report,  unless  some 
other  measure  to  raise  supplies  should  be  adopted.    It  would 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


57 


be  disastrous  to  tlie  world.  The  church  being  debilitated 
and  prostrated  by  the  abolition  of  its  present  wise,  harmo- 
nious, and  efficient  system,  spiritual  and  temporal,  but  little 
would  remain  of  a  peculiar  nature  to  deserve  the  regard/ 
respect,  and  admiration  of  the  world,  but  little  remain  to 
exert  a  strong  and  salutary  influence  upon  man.  Nor  is  this 
all.  The  bond  between  the  classes  and  the  quarterly  con- 
ference would  be  dissolved,  and  some  other  method  of  re- 
commending proper  candidates  from  the  membership  to 
preach  must  be  adopted.  Nor  is  this  all.  One  of  the  best 
means  of  developing  and  cultivating  ministerial  gifts  and 
graces  would  be  lost  to  our  church.  Thousands  of  useful 
and  eminent  ministers  in  our  church,  no  doubt,  first  felt 
their  call  to  preach  in  the  class-room,  and  when  they  becam 
leaders,  by  their  pious  and  varied  exercises  as  leaders,  they 
acquired  that  knowledge  of  spiritual  things,  and  that  habit 
of  aifording  instruction,  which  enter  into  the  inceptive  pre- 
paration or  groundwork  of  preaching  the  gospel.  The 
e_xercises  of  public  prayer,  singing,  administering  instruc- 
tion, reproof,  warning,  admonition,  consolation,  encourage- 
ment, visiting  absent  and  delinquent  members,  spiritual 
attentions  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  and  the  intimate 
acquaintance  the  leader  forms  with  the  pastor,  and  the 
knowledge  he  obtains  of  church  matters  in  the  leaders' 
meeting,  all  contribute  much  to  qualify  him  to  preach,  and 
take  charge  of  the  church  himself,  when  called  and  sent 
forth  to  preach.  In  the  class-room,  the  leader  learns  the 
first  lessons  of  the  preacher,  and  when  he  becomes  a  preacher, 
he  continues  the  exercises  and  labors  of  the  leader  on  his 
circuit  or  station.  Calamitious  would  be  the  day  to  the 
Methodist  church,  should  this  normal  school  of  our  ministry 
ever  be  abolished !  God  forbid  that  such  a  wo  shall  ever 
befall  us  !  Nor  is  this  all.  The  foundation  of  experimental 
religion  and  religious  character  is  laid  in  the  class-room  :  it 
is  the  nursery  for  young  converts,  the    babes  in  Christ.'^ 


58  NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 

Here  we  mtght  dwell  at  length  and  with  delight.  The 
advice  from  the  experienced  leader,  the  recital  of  experienced 
Christians,  the  severe  examination  to  which  he  subjects  him- 
self, the  habitual  and  regular  observance  of  this  means  of 
grace,  the  formation  of  religious  habits  and  resolutions  at 
a  time  the  most  critical,  the  gracious  strength  he  obtains 
to  contend  with  the  trials  and  temptations  of  life,  the  help 
he  acquires  to  resist  and  repress  the  remains  of  the  carnal 
mind,  and  oppose  and  subdue  old^  habits  and  besetting  sins, 
the  divine  assistance  he  receives  to  detect  and  relieve  many 
an  infirmity  and  imperfection,  the  sensible  growth  in  grace 
he  makes  from  time  to  time,  the  refreshing  views  he  enjoys 
of  Christ  and  heaven  and  eternal  rest,  the  love  diffused  in 
his  heart  for  the  brethren,  for  perishing  sinners,  and  the 
cause  of  God,  and  the  numberless  motives,  ever  new  and 
stronger,  he  feels  to  advance  and  conquer — all  combine,  in 
the  class-room,  to  improve  and  establish  the  young  Christian, 
to  attach  him  to  the  church,  and  perfect  him  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Beside,  in  the  class-room,  he  not  only  acquires  a 
higher  regard  for  the  other  means  of  grace  connected  with 
the  church,  but  the  best  qualification  to  enjoy  them.  Mourn- 
ful would  be  the  day  for  young  Christians  in  our  church 
should  the  class  meeting  ever  be  abolished  !  Then,  they 
would  scarcely  ever  rise  above  their  first  love,^^  yea,  but  few 
would  even  retain  that  long  !  This,  indeed,  is  the  lamenta- 
ble result  now,  wherever  the  classes  are  habitually  neglected, 
and  this  is  mainly  the  reason  why  multitudes  of  young 
Christians  in  our  church  so  soon  fall  away,  and  return  to 
the  world.  The  nature  of  the  class  meeting  will  more 
obviously  appear  in  the  consideration  of  the  benefits  of  the 
institution,  which  we  shall  defer  till  the  proper  place.  We 
shall  close  this  part  of  the  work  with  a  single  quotation 
from  Bishop  Morris  : 

As  to  the  peculiar  institution  of  class  meetings,  whether 
we  view  it  in  its  spiritual,  pastoral,  disciplinary,  business, 


NATURE  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS.  59 

or  social  aspect,  it  is  of  vast  importance  to  us.  Nothing, 
indeed,  could  supply  its  place,  or  fill  tlie  vacuum  which  its 
removal  would  occasion  in  the  system  of  church  polity  of 
which  it  is  a  distinguishing  feature.  Settled  pastors  over 
single  congregations  may  do  without  it,  but  itinerant,  inter- 
changing pastors,  having  charge  of  numerous  flocks,  to  be 
visited  periodically,  in  order  to  perform  their  pastoral  labor, 
find  it  indispensable  to  divide  their  societies  into  smaller 
companies,  called  classes,  according  to  their  respective  places 
of  abode,  and  appoint  leaders  to  look  after  them  in  their 
absence.  These  weekly  meetings  are  to  the  church  what 
schools  are  to  colleges,  and  military  training,  by  companies, 
is  to  an  army — indispensable  to  her  prosperity/^* 


*  Bishop  Morris. — Intro,  to  Treatise  on  Class  Meetings,  by  Rev.  John 
Miley,  A.  M.  pp.  14,  15. 


PART  11. 

CHAPTER  I. 

OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS  FOUNDED  SUBSTAN- 
TIALLY UPON  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

We  now  enter  upon  debatable  ground.  The  obligation 
of  class  meetings,  as  a  test  of  membersbip,  in  tbe  proper 
sense  of  the  term,  has  been  doubted  by  many  private  mem- 
bers of  our  church,  who  have  had,  and  still  have,  a  few 
supporters  in  our  ministry.  It  is  not  questioned  by  these 
that  the  discipline  enjoins  the  observance  of  the  class  meet- 
ing upon  every  member  of  our  church,  and  that  exclusion  is 
defined  as  the  penalty  in  every  instance  of  ^'  wilful  and  re- 
peated neglect  but  it  is  questioned  by  them,  whether  as 
a  test  of  membership  it  is  scriptural,  and  whether  the  pro- 
per authorities  in  the  church  have  the  right  to  institute  and 
impose  it  as  a  test  of  membership.  We  say,  as  such  a  test, 
it  is  scriptural,  and  that  the  proper  authorities  in  our  church 
have  a  right  to  impose  it  as  such  a  test.  Let  us  be  clearly 
understood.  We  do  not  assume,  that  class  meetings  are 
specificallT/  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures ;  we  admit  that  they 
are  not ;  but  we  do  assume,  that  they  are  suhstantialli/  con- 
tained and  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures.  Nor  do  we  assume^ 
that  they  should  be  made  a  test  of  membership  in  other 
churches;  that  is,  in  those  churches  that  are  under  the  care 
of  a  settled  ministry ;  but  we  do  assume,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  they  should  be  made  a  test  of  membership  in  our 
church,  which  is  itinerant.  Nor  do  we  assume  that  the 
60 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


61 


name  and  mode  of  this  social  institution  are  the  best  that 
can  be  adopted,  but  we  do  affirm,  we  know  no  better  that 
can  be  adopted,  and  do  assume,  that  the  present  mode  of 
of  Christian  conference  and  communion  is  strictly  and 
sacredly  binding  upon  the  church,  so  long  as  the  authorities 
in  the  church  shall  see  proper  to  retain  and  enjoin  it.  These 
positions  we  shall  endeavor  to  sustain,  and  so  place  the  obli- 
gation of  class  meetings  as  a  test  of  membership  in  our 
church  upon  a  solid  basis.  The  first  argument,  which  is 
scriptural,  we  give  in  this  chapter.  We  have  said,  that 
class  meetings  are  substantially  scriptural,  and  the  following 
are  our  proofs. 

1.  '^Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens.'^*  In  the  class 
meeting,  better  than  anywhere  else.  Christians  become  ac- 
quainted with  one  another's  infirmities  and  trials,  and  so 
know  best  how  to  extend  to  one  another  religious  help.  But 
for  the  exhortations  and  counsels  given  from  time  to  time 
in  the  class-room,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  gradual  and  in- 
sidious progress  of  sin  might  induce  spiritual  declension 
and  insensibility.  By  the  exercises  of  the  class-room,  many 
a  Christian  has  been  roused  from  a  state  of  formality  and 
indifference,  many  a  feeble  minded  Christian  com- 
forted,'' and  many  a  weak  '^  Christian  strengthened," 
who  otherwise  might  have  fainted  and  perished  by  the 
way.  Man  is  a  social,  weak,  and  dependent  being,  and 
when  controlled  by  the  tender  love  of  Christ,  he  often  ob- 
tains the  richest  effiisions  of  his  grace  in  the  holy  fellowship 
and  sympathies  of  his  saints,  by  which  he  is  greatly  en- 
couraged to  hold  up  his  head,  and  calmly  wait  for  deliverance, 
amid  the  perils  that  surround  him  and  the  trials  that  op- 
press him.  He  feels  that  he  is  not  alone,  that  Christ  is 
with  his  disciples,  and  is  the  strength  of  his  disciples,  and 
that  each  a  friendly  aid  affords  in  time  of  need.    Thus,  all 


*-  Gal.  vi.  2. 
6 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


bear  a  part  of  tlie  burden  of  each,  and  the  whole  body  is 
held  together  and  supported  by  the  bonds  of  indulgent  love. 

2.  Every  private  interview  of  Christ  with  his  disciples 
was  substantially  a  class  meetingj  of  whicb  be  was  the  most 
gracious  leader,  and  in  which  he  instructed,  admonished,  re- 
buked, reproved,  and  encouraged,  as  occasion  required.  His 
almighty  arm  made  their  burdens  light,  and  his  stirring 
voice  roused  them  affectionately  from  lethargy  and  fear. 
In  private  with  his  disciples  he  asked  them,  Whom  say 
ye  that  I  am  Never  was  there  a  more  important  question 
proposed  to  their  experience  than  this ;  it  was  spiritual  in 
the  profoundest  sense  :  it  was  proposed  to  the  twelve,  the 
apostolic  class,  by  Christ,  the  great  leader  on  this  occasion. 
Their  answer  shows  the  extent  of  their  faith :  Thou  art 
the  Christ,  the  son  of  the  living  God.''  And  Christ  calls 
them  blessed.''  This  was  a  class  meeting  in  the  purest 
and  highest  sense.  Again,  afterward,  when  he  met  them 
in  class  privately,  he  addressed  Peter  particularly,  who 
had  denied  him  three  times,  repeating  the  question  to  him 
three  times:  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me  T' 
Lovest  thou  me?  How  often  is  this  question  proposed  by 
the  faithful  leader  to  his  class  respecting  Christ  !  and  how 
many  a  backslider  is  brought  to  reflection  and  repentance 
under  its  force !  Many  were  the  class  meetings,  precious 
and  powerful,  Christ  had  with  his  disciples  before  and  after 
his  death.    He  is  with  us  still. 

The  Apostle  Paul  met  with  twelve  disciples  of  John  the 
Baptist  at  Ephesus,  and  inquired  of  them,  Have  ye  re- 
ceived the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed  ?"  and  he  gave  them 
the  proper  instruction.  This  was  substantially  a  class 
meeting.  He  refers  to  the  same  thing  in  his  intended  visit 
to  the  saints  at  Rome  :  I  long  to  see  you,  that  I  may  im- 
part unto  you  some  spiritual  gift,  to  the  end  you  may  be 
established ;  that  is,  that  I  may  be  comforted  together  loitli 
youj  by  the  mutual  faith  both  of  you  and  me^ 


FOUNDED  ON  THE  SCRIPTURES. 


68 


8.  Then  they  that  feared  the  Lord,  spake  often  one  to 
another,  and  the  Lord  hearkened  and  heard  it,  and  a  book 
of  remembrance  was  written  before  him  for  them  that  feared 
the  Lord,  and  that  thought  upon  his  name.  And  they  shall 
be  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in  that  day  when  I  make 
up  my  jewels;  and  I  will  spare  them  as  a  man  spareth  his 
own  son  that  serveth  him.^^"^  This  refers  to  the  few  pious 
and  faithful  J ews,  who,  when  the  greater  part  of  the  Jewish 
church  had  abandoned  the  commandments  and  ordinances 
of  God,  resisted  the  surrounding  corruptions,  and  assembled 
to  observe  the  pure  religion  of  their  fathers,  and  encourage 
each  other  in  working  out  their  salvation.  They  conversed 
with  each  other  on  religious  subjects,  and  this  they  did 

often.^^  The  exact  method  adopted  is  not  stated,  nor  is 
it  important  to  the  argument  that  it  should  have  been 
stated ;  but  in  substance  and  advantages,  it  is  obvious,  there 
is  a  strong  resemblence  in  this  pious  Jewish  custom  to 
the  institution  of  the  classes  in  our  church.  The  same 
thing  is  expressed  by  David  :  Come  and  hear,  all  ye  that 
fear  God,  and  I  will  declare  what  he  hath  done  for  my  soul.^^f 
Again  :  "Praise  ye  the  Lord.  I  will  praise  the  Lord  with 
my  whole  heart,  in  the  assembly  of  the  upright,  and  in  the 
congregation.^^!  Besides  meeting  together  for  pulblic  wor- 
ship, here  is  a  particular  reference  to  a  meeting  at  which 
those  only  who- feared  God  were  present,  and  who  met  solely 
for  the  object  of  mutual  intercourse  and  profit. 

4.  "Exhort  one  another  daily,  lest  any  of  you  should  be 
hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin.'^§  As  there  is  a 
natural  disposition  in  man  to  be  self-deceived,  without  the 
impartial  oversight  of  others.  Christians  themselves,  in  a 
thousand  things,  might  soon  become  insensible  through  the 
deceitfulness  of  weak  human  nature,  and  the  influence  of 
the  world.    Daily  exhortation,  that  is,  frequent  and  season- 


*  Mai.  iii.  16,  17.       f  Ps.  Ixvi.  16.       %  Ps.  cxi.  1.       §  Heb.  iii.  13. 


64 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


able  admonition  and  instruction  are  required  to  discover  to 
us  our  true  nature,  duty,  and  danger.  And  there  is  no 
means  in  our  cliurch,  or  in  any  other  church,  better  calcu- 
lated to  accomplish  these  objects  than  the  classes.  The 
apostle  implies  the  most  intimate  fellowship,  without  which 
they  could  not  have  exhorted  each  other. 

6.  ^'  Wherefore  comfort  yourselves  together,  and  edify 
one  another,  even  as  also  ye  do.  Warn  them  that  are 
unruly,  comfort  the  feeble-minded,  support  the  weak.'^* 
This  implies  reciprocal  encouragement  and  edification.  It 
is  evident,  this  cannot  be  done  properly,  or  to  much  extent, 
in  the  general  congregation ;  and,  in  our  church,  without 
the  use  of  the  classes,  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to 
know  who  are  the  unruly,  the  feeble-minded,  or  the  weak. 
Beside,  these  exhortations  refer  to  the  duties  of  the  indi^ 
vidual  members  of  the  church  to  each  other,  and  not  to  the 
special  oversight  of  the  pastor.  These  Christian  duties 
are  to  be  performed  by  themselves,  in  the  absence  of  the 
pastor,  which  implies  that  the  primitive  Christians  often 
met  together  to  edify,  warn,  comfort,  and  strengthen  one 
another.    To  the  same  effect  is  the  exhortation  of  St.  Jude : 

But  ye  beloved,  building  up  yourselves  in  your  most  holy 
faith,  praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  keep  yourselves  in  the 
love  of  Christ,  &c.  And  of  some  have  compassion,  making 
a  difference.  And  others  save  with  fear,  pulling  them  out 
of  the  fire.^'f  That  is,  those  who  are  discouraged  by  the 
appearance  of  surrounding  danger,  or  having  sinned,  are 
deeply  penitent,  treat  with  forbearance,  and  not  with 
severity  and  harshness;  and  those  who  are  self-confident, 
proud,  and  insensible,  rescue  with  fear — fear  of  the  holiness, 
justice,  and  truth  of  God.  But  this  cannot  be  done  in 
any  Christian  community,  without  a  knowledge  of  one  an- 
other, and  without  frequent  intimate  religious  intercourse. 


*  1  Thess.  V.  11,  14. 


t  Jude  20,  Ac. 


FOUNDED  ON  THE  SCRIPTURES. 


65 


6.  "  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  -together  in  my 
name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them/^*  This  is  sub- 
stantially the  nature  of  the  class  meeting.  No  particular 
reference  is  made  to  regular  and  public  worship ;  nor  to  any 
accidental  meeting  of  Christians ;  but  to  some  specific  time 
and  place  J  mutually  agreed  upon  by  Christians,  for  specially 
religious  objects,  and  specially  in  the  name  of  Christ :  such 
is  the  class  meeting,  and  the  class  meeting,  as  such,  has 
been  sealed  by  the  presence  of  Christ  ever  since  its  incor- 
poration in  the  foundation  of  our  church. 

7.  ^'  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all 
wisdom ;  teaching  and  admonishing  one  another  in  psalms 
and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace  in  your 
hearts  to  the  Lord.'^f  How  near  this  comes  to  an  exact 
description  of  the  Methodist  class  meeting,  any  one  ac- 
quainted with  that  means  of  teaching  and  admonishing^' 
can  easily  see. 

8.  ^^And  let  us  consider  one  another  to  provoke  unto 
love  and  to  good  works  :  not  forsaking  the  assembling  of 
ourselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is ;  but  exhort- 
ing one  another :  and  so  much  the  more  as  ye  see  the  day 
approaching.^^J  That  is,  let  us  diligently  and  piously  care 
for  one  another,  and  consider  each  other^s  trials,  difiiculties, 
temptations,  and  weaknesses,  and  so  sympathize  with  one 
another  as  to  excite  or  encourage  one  another  to  good  works 
toward  God  and  man ;  not  forsaking  our  private  religious 
meetings,  which  are  supporting  and  instructing  in  these 
times  of  suffering  and  persecution,  and  which  some  habi- 
tually and  wilfully  neglect.  This  is  another  graphic  descrip- 
tion of  the  substantial  character  of  the  Methodist  class 
meeting. 

Many  other  scriptures  of  the  same  import  might  be  ad- 
duced, but  these  are  amply  sufficient  to  establish  our  first 


«■  Matt,  xviii.  20.  f  Col.  iii.  16.  %  Heb.  x.  24,  25. 


66 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


argument.  That  these  scriptures  were  designed  for  a  casual 
application,  cannot  for  a  moment  be  rationally  admitted; 
that  they  were  designed  for  formal  and  regular  use  in  the 
apostolic  and  primitive  churches,  and  so  by  the  church  in 
all  ageS;  seems  rational  and  plain,  no  matter  what  formal 
mode  of  applying  them  be  adopted,  at  any  time,  by  any 
particular  church.  The  mode  which  the  Methodist  church 
has  adopted  is  the  class  meeting.  The  mode  is  a  matter  of 
church  discretion  and  authority :  the  substance  is  scriptural 
and  scripturally  binding  on  all  true  believers. 

The  only  objection  of  any  force  that  can  be  urged  against 
this  argument  is,  that  the  church  has  no  authority  to  insti- 
tute and  impose  any  mode  of  performing  religious  duties, 
not  specifically  enjoined  in,  or  plainly  inferable  from,  the 
Bible.  The  argument  does  not  require  this  kind  of  support 
to  establish  it,  for  it  cannot  be  proved,  that  any  specific 
mode  of  performing  religious  duties  is  enjoined  in  the 
New  Testament  as  invariable  and  of  perpetual  obligation. 
This  is  the  error  of  the  Baptists  on  the  subject  of  immer- 
sion. All  that  is  required  to  confirm  the  position  we  have 
taken,  is  to  show  that  any  particular  church  is  invested  with 
divine  authority  to  institute  and  impose  modes  (of  discharg- 
ing religious  duties)  which,  in  its  wisdom  and  discretion,  it 
judges  to  be  required  by  its  peculiar  nature  to  accomplish 
in  the  best  manner  possible  the  great  objects  of  its  mission, 
and  which  are  not  inconsistent  with  the  written  word  of 
God;  and  such  modes,  when  instituted  and  imposed,  are 
solemnly  binding  on  its  members  till  modified  or  repealed. 
This  shall  be  the  work  of  the  next  chapter,  and  on  this 
mainly  turns  the  obligation  of  class  meetings  as  a  test  of 
membership  in  the  Methodist  church. 


CHAPTER  11. 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS,  AS  A  TEST  OF  MEM- 
BERSHIP; FOUNDED  CIRCUMSTANTIALLY  UPON  THE  AU- 
THORITY OF  THE  CHURCH. 

I  1.  The  General  Conference,  which  is  the  only  legislative 
authority  in  our  church,-  has  no  right,  inherent  or  derived, 
to  legislate  for  the  church  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term. 
Christ,  the  founder  of  the  church,  and  the  apostles,  whom 
he  invested  with  authority  to  govern  the  church,  had  the 
sole  right  to  legislate  in  the  strict  sense,  and  the  apostles 
themselves  could  not  go  beyond  what  Christ  had  taught 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  inspired.  Yet  the  General  Conference 
has  the  right  to  adopt  such  prudential  rules  and  regula- 
tions as  it  shall  judge  required,  from  time  to  time,  to  enable 
the  ministry  of  our  church  to  preach  the  gospel,  administer 
the  sacraments,  and  enforce  discipline;  in  a  word,  to  govern 
the  church,  and  accomplish  in  the  best  manner  possible  all 
the  parts  of  their  work.  The  fundamental  principles  of  eccle- 
siastical legislation,  however,  must  always  be  in  strictest 
harmony  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Bible  :  in  propor- 
tion as  divergence  from  this  axiom  is  made,  innovation  and 
and  revolution  must  ensue,  and  the  church  be  divested  of 
its  purity,  simplicity,  and  authority 

2.  If  the  laity  have  the  right  to  make  rules  and  regula- 
tions for  the  government  of  the  church — that  is,  for  preaching 
the  gospel,  administering  the  sacraments,  and  enforcing  the 
discipline — it  must  either  be  a  natural  or  acquired  right.  If 
it  be  a  natural  right,  they  had  it  when  in  a  state  of  nature 
and  were  enemies  of  God  and  his  church,  and  then  it  belongs 
to  all  men;  and  then  every  man  in  the  United  States  has  a 

67 


68  OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 

right  to  be  represented  in  the  G-eneral  Conference  and  every 
other  legislative  assembly  of  the  church  of  God ;  which 
is  absurd.  If  it  be  an  acquired  right,  it  must  have  been 
acquired  by  becoming  Christians.  If  so,  the  Bible,  the 
great  charter  of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom,  must  clearly  re- 
veal and  define  it.  Let  it  be  shown,  and  we  admit  the 
right.  If  the  right  be  acquired  by  becoming  Christians, 
then  all  Christians  have  a  common  right  to  be  represented  in 
the  General  Conference;  which  is  also  absurd.  Nor  is  it 
acquired  by  becoming  3Iethodists,  since  it  is  nowhere  found 
in  the  terms  of  becoming  Methodists,  nor  in  the  book  of 
discipline  of  the  Methodist  church.  The  truth  is,  the 
government  of  the  Methodist  church  originated  with  the 
ministry,  and  they  not  only  have  the  right  to  make  rules 
and  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  Methodist 
church,  but,  from  the  Bible,  they  can  never  transfer  this 
to  the  laity.  The  laity  voluntarily  entered  into  the  societies 
organized  by  Mr.  Wesley,  to  be  governed  by  the  rules  and 
regulations  which  he  and  his  successors  might  make ;  and 
the  laity  still  voluntarily  enter  into  the  Methodist  church ; 
the  right  to  make  new  regulations,  or  to  alter  the  old  ones, 
being  reserved  to  the  ministry  in  the  very  terms  of  the  com- 
pact. The  preachers  existed  before  the  laity,  and  the 
government  was  originally  and  necessarily  in  their  hands, 
which  is  the  order  of  the  Bible ;  and  hence  the  preachers 
alone  are  invested  with  authority  to  govern,  in  strict  harmony 
always  with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  Bible,  all  who  volun- 
tarily place  themselves  under  their  pastoral  care. 

3.  The  rules  and  regulations  by  which  the  preachers  are 
to  carry  on  their  work  ought  to  be  made  by  the  preachers 
themselves,  because  they  only  are  responsible  for  its  execu- 
tion. What  is  their  work?  They  are  commissioned  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  to  preach  the  gospel,  administer  the  sacra- 
ments, and  maintain  moral  discipline  among  those  over  whom 
the  Holy  Ghost,  in  these  respects,  have  made  them  over- 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


69 


seers.  If  the  laity  of  our  church  were  allowed  to  partici- 
pate in  legislation,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  they  might  inter- 
fere with  the  responsibilities  of  the  preachers,  in  modifying 
their  work,  so  as  to  destroy  itinerancy,  and  settle  the  preachers 
permanently  among  their  congregations;  in  prescribing  to 
the  preachers  what  doctrines  they  must  teach,  and  so  a  way 
would  be  open  for  heresy  of  every  kind ;  in  insisting  that 
the  ordinances  should  be  administered  after  such  a  mode,  or 
with  such  a  meaning,  or  to  all  indiscriminately  who  should 
desire  them,  or  should  be  dispensed  with  altogether;  in  a 
word,  in  controlling  the  preachers  in  accordance  with  every 
worldly  policy,  corrupt  motive,  and  passion  which  might 
predominate  over  themselves;  to  which  it  is  obvious,  the 
preachers  could  never  submit,  consistently  with  their  solemn 
commission,  since  they  are  accountable  to  the  great  Head  of 
the  church  only,  for  the  manner  in  which  they  fulfil  their 
commission.  Thus  immorality  is  prohibited  by  divine  code, 
and  exclusion  from  the  church  is  specified  as  the  just 
penalty ;  but  how  the  church  is  to  proceed  in  the  investiga- 
tion is  not  expressly  defined  in  the  Bible,  because  a  general 
regulation  might  not  only  be  inapplicable  to  all  cases,  but  in 
some  cases,  from  the  particular  circumstances  of  the  church, 
be  utterly  impracticable.  The  mode  of  procedure,  there- 
fore, under  such  circumstances,  must  be  provided  by  some 
wise  conventional  rule;  and  so  all  prudential  regulations  of 
the  church  must  be  adopted. 

The  ministry  of  Christ  being  invested  with  authority  to 
teach  wholesome  doctrine,  and  govern  the  church  with  salu- 
tary discipline,  the  people  are  not  authorized  to  tell  the 
ministry  what  they  shall  teach,  for  Christ  said  to  his  minis- 
try, Teach  them  (the  people)  to  observe  all  things  whatever 
I  have  commanded  yoii.^^  The  apostles  had  to  gather  a 
church  before  they  could  teach  and  govern  it,  and  conse- 
quently they  had  to  judge  what  they  should  teach,  and  how 
they  should  govern,  since  as  yet  no  church  had  been  created 


70 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


to  judge  in  these  matters ;  as  in  the  case  of  missionaries, 
who,  plunging  into  the  moral  solitudes  of  heathenism,  find 
man  ignorant  of  the  true  Grod  and  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
principles  of  church-government.  The  people,  therefore, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  cannot  be  the  ultimate  judges  of 
doctrine  and  church-government.  If  the  people  were  in- 
vested with  authority  in  these  matters,  if  they  were  pos- 
sessed of  the  knowledge  that  would  qualify  them  to  instruct 
the  ministry  in  these  matters,  then  in  what  were  the  use  in 
instituting  the  ministry  at  all  ?  The  churches,  when  once 
formed,  might  then  safely  be  left  to  themselves. 

Again :  if  the  people  are  to  select  and  instruct  their  own 
teachers,  then  occasions  may  arise  in  which  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus''  may  be  corrupted  and  abandoned.  ^^For 
the  time  will  come  when  they  will  not  endure  sound  doc- 
trine ;  but  after  their  own  lusts  shall  heap  up  to  themselves 
teachers,  having  itching  ears ;  and  they  shall  turn  away 
their  ears  from  the  truth,  and  be  turned  unto  fables. 
But  the  defence  against  this  evil  the  apostle  directly  places 
in  the  authority  of  the  ministry :  But  watch  thou  in  all 
things,  endure  afflictions,  do  the  work  of  an  evangelist, 
make  full  proof  of  thy  ministry.  Preach  the  word;  be 
instant  in  season,  out  of  season ;  reprove,  rebuke,  exhort 
with  all  long-suffering  and  doctrine. '^f  Be  not  carried  away 
by  the  tide  of  corruption ;  endure  persecution  for  the  truth's 
sake ;  be  faithful  in  the  preaching  and  application  of  sound 
doctrine ;  exercise  the  full  authority  of  your  ministry  in  the 
exercise  of  a  salutary  discipline. 

Nor  are  the  people  invested  with  authority  to  tell  the 
ministry  how  they  are  to  be  governed.  In  the  description 
of  the  qualifications  of  a  bishop,  the  apostle  says,  he  must 
be  one  who  ruleth  well  his  own  house,  having  his  children 
in  subjection  with  all  gravity;  for  if  a  man  know  not  how 


2  Tim.      3,  4. 


t  2  Tim.  iv.  2,  5. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


71 


to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he  taJ^e  care  of  the  church 
-  of  Grod  Again,  and  as  decisively  :  Keniember  them 
which  have  the  rule  over  you,  who  have  spoken  unto  you 
the  word  of  God.'^f  And  in  the  same  chapter :  Obey 
them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves."'^ 
The  words  employed  to  express  the  work  of  a  pastor  include 
both  the  ideas  of  teaching  or  feeding  and  governing.  ^^Out 
of  thee  shall  come  a  Governor,  that  shall  rule  [^poimainol 
my  people  Israel.''§  To  him  will  I  give  power  over  the 
nations ;  and  he  shall  rule  \_poimaino']  them  with  a  rod  of 
iron;  as  the  vessels  of  a  potter,  shall  they  be  broken  to 
pieces:  even  as  I  received  of  my  Father.'^ ||  This  settles 
the  meaning  of  the  oft-questioned  and  long-contested  pas- 
sage in  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter :  The  elders  which  are 
among  you  I  exhort,  who  am  also  an  elder,  and  a  witness 
of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  also  a  partaker  of  the  glory 
that  shall  be  revealed.  Feed  \_poimaino']  the  flock  of  God 
which  is  among  you,  taking  the  oversight  thereof,  not  by 
constraint,  but  willingly;  not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready 
mind;  neither  as  being  lords  over  God's  heritage,  but  being 
ensamples  to  the  flock.  And  when  the  chief  Shepherd 
shall  appear,  ye  shall  receive  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth 
not  away.'^^  In  these  passages,  poimaino  means  both  to 
feed  and  rule  the  flock  of  Christ;  that  is,  implies  the  per- 
formance of  all  the  duties,  and  the  exercise  of  all  the  func- 
tions, of  the  pastoral  office.  Again :  Take  heed,  there- 
fore, unto  yourselves,  and  to  all  the  flock,  over  the  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers,  [episcopous,  bi- 
shops,'] to  feed  [^poimanein]  the  church  of  God,  which  he 
hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood. ^^^"^ 

It  is  essential  to  the  great  primitive  object  of  Methodism, 
that  the  character  of  its  ministry  be  in  the  keeping  of  the 


^    1  Tim.  iii.  4,  5.     f  Heb.  xiii.  7.     %  Heb.  xiii.  17.     §  Matt.  ii.  6. 
!|  Rev.  ii.  26,  27.  ^  1  Peter  y.  1-4.  Acts  xx.  28. 


72 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


ministers  themselves ;  for  whatever  endangers  the  purity  of 
the  ministry,  endangers  the  success  and  stability  of  Method- 
ism; and  therefore  one  of  its  resplendent  glories  iS;  that 
its  ministry  is  unfettered.  And  while  there  are  properly 
balancing-checks  to  this  liberty,  providing  for  impeachment 
and  expulsion,  it  is  a  singular  proof  of  the  integrity  and 
purity  of  the  Methodist  ministry,  that  for  now  a  hundred 
and  ten  years  they  have  not  abused  this  liberty ;  and  it  is 
doubted  whether  a  parallel  instance  of  so  large  and  influen- 
tial a  body  of  ministers  can  be  produced,  who  have  made 
the  sacrifices  they  have,  who  have  endured  the  same  suffer- 
ings and  hardships,  and  who  have  been  exposed  to  the  same 
temptations  and  dangers,  and  yet  who  have  maintained  a 
warmer  allegiance  to  their  primitive  government,  or  a  greater 
degree  of  moral  purity,  or  performed  a  larger  amount  of 
useful  labors,  or  more  jealously  guarded  the  rights  and 
interests  of  their  people,  or  been  more  respected  and  be- 
loved by  their  people.  If  time  and  success  are  tests  of  the 
soundness  of  a  principle,  the  Methodist  ministry  have  them 
in  this  case. 

The  conclusion  of  some,  that  the  denial  of  the  right  of 
the  people  to  govern  themselves  is  the  same  as  to  say  that 
they  have  no  privileges  at  all,  is  absurd.  The  people  have 
most  important  and  inalienable  rights.  They  have  the 
amplest  scope  for  the  exercise  of  all  the  sacred  rights  of 
conscience ;  they  are  entitled  to  the  use  of  all  the  means  of 
grace  connected  with  the  church ;  they  have  a  right  to  the 
full  enjoyment  of  all  the  privileges  of  rational,  Christian 
liberty ;  they  are  entitled  to  the  faithful  oversight  of  the 
ministry  :  in  a  word,  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas, 
or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things 
to  come,  all  are  yours ;  and  ye  are  Christ's ;  and  Christ  is 
God's.''*    As  the  rules  and  regulations  enacted  by  the 


*  1  Cor.  iii.  22,  2.3. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


73 


ministry  for  the  government  of  the  church  are  to  be  con- 
sistent with  the  written  word;  such  rules  and  regulations 
can  no  more  deprive  the  people  of  any  privilege  to  which 
they  are  justly  entitled,  than  the  written  word  deprives 
them  of  any  such  privilege.  If,  upon  careful  and  prayerful 
examination,  they  conscientiously  believe  their  pastor  preaches 
doctrine  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  they  may  appeal,  in 
a  connection  of  churches  like  ours,  from  their  own  pastor 
to  his  fellow-pastors ;  and  if  in  any  instance  of  mal-admi- 
nistration  of  their  pastor  they  see  proper,  they  may  seek  re- 
dress also  from  his  fellow-pastors;  and  in  case  of  any 
enactment  by  the  legislative  authority  of  the  church,  which 
they  conscientiously  believe  to  be  inconsistent  with  the 
written  Word,  it  will  be  justifiable  for  them  to  use  all  pru- 
dent means  to  obtain  its  abrogation;  and  failing  to  obtain  it, 
it  will  be  justifiable  for  them  to  withdraw,  and  place  them- 
selves under  the  guidance  of  other  pastors. 

4.  What  is  a  legislature  ?  A  legislature  makeSj  oriyi- 
nates  laws,  not  explains  and  administers  them.  Sove- 
reignty is  the  law-making  authority.  The  sovereignty  of 
the  church  is  neither  in  the  laity  nor  the  ministry,  but  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  maintained  in  the  fifth 
article  of  our  religion,  and  in  the  last  paragraph  of  our 
general  rules.  As  the  lawyer  explains  law  at  the  bar,  and 
the  judge  teaches  and  administers  it  on  the  bench,  and  yet 
are  not  legislators,  so  the  General  Conference  explains, 
teaches,  and  administers  the  laws  which  Christ  has  pre- 
scribed for  the  government  of  the  church.  The  sovereignty 
which  originates  and  enjoins  law  also  provides  for  its  ad- 
ministration, by  the  appointment  of  judges  and  the  institu- 
tions of  courts;  and  in  these  courts  the  people  have  no  part 
in  the  administration  of  law.  Again  :  laws  are  usually  en- 
acted and  given  to  the  public  as  general  principles  ;  and  it 
is  the  prerogative  of  judges  to  determine  their  special  ap- 
plication.   Thus,  rules  of  court  are  adopted,  and  decisions 

T 


74 


OBLTGATTON  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


on  points  of  law  are  made^  and  these  become  the  mode  or 
manner  of  applying  the  statutes  in  all  inferior  judicatories. 
Now  the  nature  of  the  church  is  moral :  the  nature  of  the 
state  is  civil.  The  government  of  the  state,  which  relates 
only  to  this  world,  may  be  constituted  by  the  ^'  wisdom  of 
this  world but  the  government  of  the  church,  which  re- 
lates to  a  future  world,  is  to  be  constituted  by  God  himself. 
Christ  originated  the  constitutional  moral  laws  of  his  church, 
and  instituted  the  ministry  to  teach  and  administer  them. 
But  the  divine  laws  being  revealed  in  an  extensive  volume, 
and  mostly  in  general  principles^  a  difference  as  to  their 
meaning  and  the  manner  of  their  application  may  often 
occur.  This  circumstance  gave  rise  to  the  various  branches 
or  divisions  of  the  evangelical  church,  those  associating 
together  who  agree  best  in  these  particulars.  And  thus 
ordinarily  an  epitome  of  views  in  a  condensed  form  is 
adopted  to  secure  and  determine  unanimity.  But  the  main 
question  is,  who  is  to  determine  and  adopt  this  epitome  f 
The  ministry  or  the  laity  ?  or  both  conjointly  ?  But  a  creed 
must  be  formed  and  preached  before  the  people  can  hear 
or  believe  it,  or  attach  themselves  to  the  ministry  who  teach 
it ;  and  thus  the  people  could  not  participate  in  its  forma- 
tion. This  was  the  case  with  Moses  and  the  prophets,  with 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  with  Luther  and  the  reformers,  and 
with  Wesley.  If,  then,  in  the  nature  of  things,  the  laity 
cannot  form  the  epitome,  a  fortiori^  they  cannot  mend  it. 
And  when  the  church  is  organized,  and  questions  of  doc- 
trine and  discipline  arise,  and  new  regulations  are  required, 
such  as  the  form  of  admission  into  the  church,  of  ordina- 
tion, and  the  sacraments,  the  order  of  public  worship,  the 
appointment  of  men  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  the  con- 
stitution of  subordinate  societies,  such  as  the  classes,  and 
new  oflBcers  to  be  appointed,  such  as  the  leaders  and  stew- 
ards,— all  these  belong  exclusively  to  the  prerogative  of  the 
ministry.    Tn  these  matters,  and  all  others  of  a  similar 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  75 

nature^  the  ministers  decide  as  teachers  and  administrators 
of  the  divine  law.  Thus,  respecting  every  article  in  our 
Creed,  and  rule  and  regulation  in  our  Discipline,  book, 
chapter,  and  verse  in  the  Bible  can  be  given  for  the  pinnci- 
pie  on  which  they  are  founded,  and  the  meaning  we  give  to 
them. 

5.  The  argument  more  directly  drawn  from  the  Scrip- 
tures.— We  have  said  that  all  the  powers  which  belong  to 
the  ministry  are  spiritual,  because  the  constitution  of  the 
church  is  spiritual,  and  its  ends  are  spiritual,  relating 
wholly  to  the  next  world;  and,  consequently,  are  distinct 
from  those  of  a  civil  nature  and  design,  which  relate  wholly 
to  this  life.  The  primitive  fathers  excluded  from  the  church 
all  civil  legislation  and  jurisdiction,  and  all  coercive  power. 
The  Bible  does  the  same.  The  nature  of  the  Christian 
church  requires  it.  And,  in  the  nature  of  things,  as  Grod 
has  appointed  officers  to  govern  his  church,  they  must 
execute  the  powers  of  the  church,  for  office  implies  power; 
and  to  say  that  all  private  Christians  may  execute  these 
powers,  is  to  say  that  there  are  no  officers  in  the  church. 
And,  as  there  are  distinct  offices  in  the  church,  so  they  have 
their  distinct  powers,  which  exclude  private  Christians 
from  the  ordinary  execution  of  any  ecclesiastical  power,  as 
well  as  officers  of  a  lower  order  from  the  execution  of 
powers  which  belong  exclusively  to  the  chief  officers  of  the 
church;  just  as  private  men  in  a  civil  government  are 
excluded  from  the  prerogatives  and  jurisdiction  which 
belong  to  public  and  superior  officers.  Usurpation  of  power 
in  the  church  would  result  in  confusion  and  destruction,  as 
it  would  in  a  civil  society ;  indeed,  it  would  be  far  more 
displeasing  to  God  and  dangerous  to  the  authors  of  it, 
because  the  honor  and  authority  of  Grod  and  the  eternal 
happiness  of  man  are  more  directly  assailed  than  in  the 
latter  case. 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  officers  of  the  church  are 


76 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


God's  stewards^  intrusted  with  the  care  and  government  of 
his  church;  and,  consequently,  private  Christians  have  no 
power  to  dispense  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  to  others, 
since  they  are  to  expect  them  from  the  hands  of  God's 
ministers.  No  man  is  justified  in  taking  the  honor  of  being 
a  minister  of  God,  but  the  man  who  is  called  and  commis- 
sioned by  God  himself.  Christ  himself  did  not  assume 
any  part  of  the  office  he  came  into  the  world  to  execute,  till 
he  was  solemnly  anointed  to  it  by  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  at  his  baptism.  Nor  did  the  apostles  themselves, 
whom  Christ  instructed  while  he  lived  with  them  on  earth, 
undertake  authority  to  govern  the  church,  till  they  were 
divinely  called,  set  apart,  and  vested  with  power  to  do  so. 
And  St.  Paul  often  insists  upon  his  divine  mission,  and 
demands  attention  and  submission  upon  that  account. 
Beside,  gifts  and  abilities,  throughout  the  New  Testament, 
are  distinguished  from  a  commission  to  exercise  authority 
in  the  church,  and  described  as  antecedent  qualifications  to 
it.  Qualifications  however  great,  or  abilities  however  splen- 
did, are  not  sufficient  to  empower  any  man  with  authority 
to  exercise  the  office  of  the  ministry,  who  has  not  been 
recognised  as  called  of  God  to  the  holy  office,  and  ordained 
as  such,  where  it  is  practicable,  by  those  in  authority  in  the 
church.  A  certain  and  more  terrible  punishment  than  any 
inflicted  in  this  life  awaits  those  who  violate  the  sacred 
offices  of  the  Christian  ministry.  The  infliction  may  not 
be  as  sudden  as  under  the  Jewish  economy,  but  as  the 
offices  of  the  Christian  church  are  of  divine  appointment, 
and  are  more  sacred  and  honorable  than  those  of  the  J ewish 
church,  as  the  substance  is  preferable  to  the  type  or  sha- 
dow, the  punishment  of  usurpers  of  the  Christian  ministry 
is  not  the  less  certain,  though  it  be  not  inflicted  till  the 
final  judgment,  the  proper  season  of  punishment  for  offences 
under  the  gospel. 

We  have  said  that  the  powers  of  the  ministry  consist  of 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


77 


preaching  the  word,  administering  the  sacraments,  and  main- 
taining the  moral  discipline  of  the  church ;  and  that  private 
Christians  cannot  discharge  these  powers.  Consequently, 
the  preachers,  or  officers  of  the  church,  only  are  invested 
with  authority  to  make  rules  and  regulations  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church ;  that  is,  to  enable  them  to  discharge,  in 
the  best  manner  possible,  the  powers  of  their  office.  And, 
let  it  be  again  observed,  that  the  officers  of  the  church  have 
no  authority  to  change  or  modify  divine  laws,  or  in  any  way 
pervert  their  plain  and  original  meaning,  for  these  are 
immutable;  and  if  any  thing  of  this  kind  is  attempted,  the 
divine  precept  is  plain  and  express — We  must  obey  God 
rather  than  men.'^  Nor  have  they  power  to  impose  any 
article  of  faith,  or  rule  of  duty,  or  prescribe  any  condition 
of  salvation  or  of  church  membership,  which  is  neither 
expressly  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  or  cannot  be  certainly 
concluded  as  consistent  with  them.  All  they  can  prescribe 
relates  to  the  preservation  of  the  being  and  the  regulation 
of  the  outward  peace  and  order  of  the  church.  Whatever 
is  left  undetermined  in  the  Scriptures  in  these  respects, 
they  have  authority  to  determine.  In  many  things,  we 
repeat,  the  rules  of  Scripture  are  general.  Thus,  we  are 
commanded  to  assemble  together  to  worship  God,  but  times 
and  places  for  this  purpose  are  not  expressed.  We  are 
commanded  to  follow  things  that  make  for  peace  and  edifi- 
fication,  and  to  do  all  things  decently  and  in  order ;  but  the 
particular  methods  by  which  these  objects  are  to  be  secured 
are  nowhere  specified.  Timothy  is  commanded  to  ^Hay 
hands  suddenly  on  no  man'' — and  this  is  a  standing  injunc- 
tion upon  all  bishops — but  the  character  of  the  previous 
trials,  the  specific  time  of  trial,  and  the  methods  of  examin- 
ing the  abilities  and  behaviour  of  candidates  for  holy  orders, 
are  nowhere  set  down  and  determined.  These  things,  and 
many  others,  being  variable  in  their  nature,  with  respect  to 
them  no  invariable  rules  can  be  prescribed ;  for  the  same 


78 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


methods  which  at  one  time,  or  in  one  age  or  country,  very 
much  promote  the  peace  and  edification  of  the  church  and 
the  salvation  of  man,  may,  at  another  time^  and  in  another 
age  or  country,  obstruct  these  ends.  Things  of  this  kind 
may  be  determined  by  particular  churches.  Thus,  the 
times  and  places  for  the  worship  of  God  must  be  fixed,  or 
there  can  be  no  assembling  at  all  for  his  worship.  The 
order  and  several  services  of  worship  must  also  be  pre- 
viously determined,  or  nothing  but  confusion  will  ensue. 
The  division  of  any  particular  church  into  conferences,  dis- 
tricts, stations,  and  circuits,  and  missions,  may  be  made  and 
varied,  for  the  more  convenient  assembling  together,  and 
preserviDg  order  and  moral  discipline.  For  example,  though 
the  Jewish  religion  was  delivered  to  one  nation,  and  its 
principal  parts  confined  to  one  place,  and  its  circumstantial 
character  strictly  specified  and  limited,  yet  many  rites, 
neither  prescribed  by  Moses,  nor  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament,  existed  among  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  Christ. 
The  whole  temple-service  of  prayers  and  psalms,  composed 
long  after  Moses'  time,  was  not  enjoined  by  any  particular 
precept  from  God.  The  Jews  added  several  rites  to  the 
paschal  solemnity ;  they  used  a  sort  of  baptism ;  and  they 
had  synagogues  with  appropriate  officers  and  services,  not 
prescribed  by  the  Lord.  Some  of  these  our  Lord  himself 
observed.  He  frequented  their  temple-service,  their  syna- 
gogues, and  adopted  their  baptism  and  their  custom  of 
blessing  bread  and  wine  after  the  paschal  supper,  as  federal 
rites  or  sacraments  of  the  Christian  church.  And  if  such 
latitude  was  given  in  the  government  of  the  Jewish  church, 
in  which  almost  every  thing  was  exactly  specified,  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  a  greater  liberty  is  left  to  the  Christian 
church,  which  is  designed  to  embrace  all  nations,  and 
extend  through  all  ages  of  time. 

All  we  have  said  is  sustained  by  the  practice  of  the  apos- 
tles.   Beside  the  standing  rules  of  the  Gospel,  they  pre- 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


79 


scribed  various  rules  and  regulations  as  the  various  churches 
under  their  care  required.  Thus,  they  enjoined  that  the 
converts  from  heathenism  abstain  from  blood.  They  intro- 
duced the  kiss  of  charity,  whicb  is  several  times  mentioned ; 
but  subsequently  occasioning  scandal,  it  was  wholly  disused. 
In  several  of  bis  epistles,  St.  Paul  prescribes  rules  for  the 
decency  of  divine  worship,  the  avoiding  of  scandal,  and 
other  things  not  determined  by  Christ;  and  he  speaks  of' 
customs  established  by  himself  and  other  apostles,  and 
observed  by  the  churches  :  But  if  any  man  seem  to  be 
contentious,  we  have  no  such  custom,  neither  the  churches 
of  God.'^*  There  is,  and  ever  will  be,  the  same  necessity 
of  prescribing  rules  and  regulations  for  the  peace  and  good 
government  of  the  church,  and  the  order  and  decency 
of  divine  worship,  as  there  was  in  the  apostolic  age. 
Things  of  this  nature  lie  within  the  compass  of  the  unin- 
spired human  understanding,  assisted  by  the  ordinary  direc- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

That  the  ministry  only  are  invested  with  authority  to 
make  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  the 
church,  as  necessity  may  require,  may  be  further  proved  by 
express  examples  from  the  New  Testament.  Though  the 
people  had  free  access  to  the  councils  and  assemblies  of  the 
apostles  and  primitive  clergy  of  the  church,  there  is  no 
example  of  their  giving  definite  voices  there;  ^^and  when 
their  advice  was  asked,  this  was  understood  to  be  done,  that 
things  might  be  carried  on  with  unanimity,  and  not  because 
their  concurrence  was  believed  necessary  to  give  authority 
to  any  thing  which  was  decreed.^^f  ^'  It  is  the  very  essence 
of  a  law,  that  it  be  made  by  the  supreme  power,'^J;  without 


1  Cor.  xi.  16. 

f  Potter  on  Church  Government,  pp.  288,  289,  to  whom  I  acknowledge 
myself  indebted  mainly  for  the  scriptural  argument  of  this  chapter, 
tl  Bl.  Com.  46. 


80 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


the  control  of  any  superior  authority,  depending  upon  no 
man,  accountable  to  no  man,  and  subjected  to  no  superior 
jurisdiction,  as,  in  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  church, 
is  the  power  of  the  clergy  to  make  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  well-government  of  the  church,  according  to  the  spirit 
and  letter  of  the  Bible.  In  the  apostolic  council  held  at 
Jerusalem,  to  consider  the  question,  whether  the  G-entile 
converts  should  observe  the  law  of  Moses,  though  the  people 
were  allowed  to  be  present,  yet  the  apostles  and  elders  are 
described  as  managing  the  whole  affair,  Paul  and  Barnabas 
were  sent  to  Jerusalem,  not  to  the  people,  but  to  the  apos- 
tles and  elders,  about  this  question  :  "  When  therefore  Paul 
and  Barnabas  had  no  small  dissension  and  disputation  with 
them,  they  determined  that  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  certain 
other  of  them,  should  go  up  to  Jerusalem  unto  the  apostles 
and  elders  about  this  question/^*  Next^  it  is  said,  the 
apostles  and  elders  came  together  to  consider  the  question, 
but  no  mention  is  made  of  the  people,  though  it  is  stated 
that  they  were  merely  present :  "  And  the  apostles  and 
elders  came  together  to  consider  this  matter/'f  Then  the 
decree  is  said  to  be  ordained  by  the  apostles  and  elders, 
without  any  mention  of  the  people :  And  as  they  went 
through  the  cities,  they  delivered  them  the  decrees  to  keep, 
that  were  ordained  of  the  apostles  and  elders  which  were  at 
Jerusalem/^ J  And  the  argument  is  conclusive,  if  we  leave 
out  the  conjunctive  particle  [Jcai]  in  the  epistle  which  con- 
tains the  decree,  which  should  be  done,  as  a  moment's  con- 
sideration shall  prove,  and  then  the  decree  will  run  in  the 
names  of  the  apostles  and  elders-brethren,  i.e.  Christian 
elders  or  rulers,  in  opposition  to  Jewish  and  other  rulers. 
This  is  the  usus  loquendi  in  the  Scriptures.  Thus,  Chris- 
tians are  often  called  men-brethren  in  opposition  to  Jews, 
and  Jews  are  called  the  same  in  opposition  to  heathens. 


Acts  XV.  2. 


f  Acts  XV.  6. 


X  Acts  xvi.  4. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


81 


^^And  in  those  days  Peter  stood  up  in  the  midst  of  the 
disciples,  and  said,  Men-brethren/^*  [avbptq  adzX^^oi.']  The 
same  expression  is  employed  in  other  Scriptures.f  St. 
Paul  speaks  of  a  wife-sister,  i.e.  a  Christian  wife,  [aduiprjy 
ywatxa.'W  The  particle  xai  was  not  in  the  text  in  the  tim  ; 
of  IrenaBus,§  nor  when  the  old  Latin  version  was  made ;  it 
is  omitted  in  the  Alexandrian,  and  other  manuscripts  of 
good  authority;  and  it  is  probable  that  it  was  inserted  in 
the  text  by  some  unskilful  transcriber,  to  make  the  sense, 
as  he  might  think,  more  rhetorical  and  perfect.  With  this 
conviction,  the  argument  is  undoubted,  that  the  laity  had 
no  authority  in  this  council,  though  they  were  present. 
They  were  present  as  witnesses,  as  the  brethren  are  present 
now  sometimes  in  our  legislative  assemblies.  Beside,  that 
the  apostles  and  elders  enacted  this  decree  by  their  own 
authority,  without  the  people's  consent,  is  evident  from  the 
consideration,  that  the  laity  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem  had 
no  authority  over  the  laity  of  the  church  at  Antioch  and 
other  places,  where  this  decree  was  to  be  observed ;  espe- 
cially as  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  churches  in  these 
places  gave  express  consent  to  the  things  enjoined,  or  tha^ 
they  were  represented  in  this  council ;  on  the  contrary,  th** 
decree  is  directed  to  the  church  in  Syria,  and  others,  nc 
present  in  the  council.  From  the  evidence  of  Scripture, 
and  the  history  of  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  the  power 
to  legislate  for  the  government  of  the  church,  in  the  man- 
ner stated,  is  lodged  with  the  ministry  of  the  church,  and 
no  others. 

6.  The  power  of  executing  laws  also  belongs  to  the 
ministry,  because  the  supreme  authority  to  make  them,  in 
the  manner  stated,  belongs  to  the  ministry,  otherwise  it 

*  Acts  i.  16. 

t  Acts  ii.  29,  37 :  vii.  2  j  xiii.  15,  26,  38 ;  xv.  7,  13 ;  xxii.  1 ;  xxiii.  1  \ 
xxviii.  17. 

X  1  Cor.  ix.  5.  §  Lib.  iii.  cap.  12. 


82 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


would  be  vain  to  make  them.  Some  here  object  "that 
the  Christian  church  had  no  jurisdiction,  because  it  has  no 
legislative  power;  or  that  it  has  no  legislative  power, 
because  it  has  no  jurisdiction/'  In  civil  matters,  it  is  true, 
the  church  has  no  authority,  either  to  make  or  execute  laws. 
But  in  the  government  of  the  church  the  ministry  have 
authority  in  both  these  respects.  Again,  the  legislative 
authority  may  delegate  power  to  execute  the  laws  to  those 
who  have  no  authority  to  make  laws.  In  civil  societies, 
subordinate  officers  are  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  the 
laws,  which  none  but  the  supreme  authority  can  enact. 
And  the  church  not  only  has  power  to  govern  its  members 
by  the  laws  which  Christ  has  enacted,  which  are  immutable, 
but  also  to  enact  and  execute  new  rules  and  regulations,  as 
the  times  and  circumstances  may  require. 

This  power  of  legislation  and  administration,  we  repeat, 
is  lodged  with  the  ministry.  It  is  generally  admitted,  that 
the  power  to  preach,  to  baptize,  and  to  celebrate  the  Lord's 
supper  is  vested  exclusively  in  the  ministry ;  but  that  the 
ministry  have  power  to  censure,  and  exclude  members  from 
its  communion,  is  not  so  generally  admitted ;  and  that  such 
is  the  power  of  the  ministry  we  shall  now  endeavor  to  prove. 
As  in  civil  societies,  authority  to  legislate  and  administer 
laws  is  necessary  for  the  protection  of  men's  lives  and  pro- 
perty, without  which  authority  men  might  almost  as  well 
live  independent  of  one  another;  so,  in  the  church,  authority 
is  necessary  to  attain  the  ends  for  which  the  church  was 
founded;  namely,  to  maintain  the  purity  of  divine  worship, 
the  general  peace  and  order  of  its  members,  to  secure  men 
from  the  pollutions  of  the  world,  and  to  train  them  up  in 
virtue  and  piety  here  for  happiness  hereafter.  These  ends 
could  not  be  accomplished  unless  the  church  had  power  to 
exclude  from  its  communion  unworthy  members  who  en- 
deavor to  oppose  these  ends  by  any  methods  whatever. 

Again  :  the  privileges  of  association  with  the  church  are 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


83 


annexed  to  certain  conditions.  If  these  privileges  were 
absolute  and  unconditional,  no  man  should  be  debarred  from 
them,  how  wicked  soever  he  might  be.  But  the  Scriptures 
require  faith  and  obedience  in  order  to  admission  into  the 
church,  and  they  are  required  in  order  to  continuance  in 
the  church ;  and  no  reason  can  be  given,  why  men  who  fail 
to  discharge  these  conditions  should  not  be  excluded  from 
the  communion  of  the  church.  Among  the  principles  of 
association  with  the  church  is  the  use  of  the  sacraments ; 
and  Christ  has  committed  the  dispensation  of  the  sacraments 
to  his  ministers,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  are  the  governors  of 
the  church ;  and  hence,  though  Christ  and  his  apostles  had 
left  no  express  directions,  we  might  safely  conclude  that  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  ministry  to  exclude  from  the  sacraments 
those  whom  they  find  unworthy  of  them. 

But  the  ministry,  or  governors  of  the  church,  are  invested 
with  authority  to  exclude  offenders  by  the  positive  authority 
of  our  Lord  himself.  This  authority  is  contained  in  the 
celebrated  promise  made  by  Christ,  first  to  Peter  :  ^^I  will 
give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :  what- 
soever thou  shalt  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven ; 
and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in 
heaven and  afterward  to  all  the  apostles  equally:  ^^Who- 
soever sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted ;  and  whosoever  sins 
ye  retain,  they  are  retained.^^f  That  is,  you  are  invested  with 
the  solemn  and  responsible  power  to  admit  and  exclude,  form- 
ally, persons  in  accordance  with  the  doctrines  of  salvation 
which  I  have  prescribed  and  commanded  you  to  teach;  and 
what  ye  shall  do  in  harmony  with  the  revealed  laws  of  my 
kingdom,  shall  be  ratified  in  heaven :  and  this  Peter  did  in  the 
declaration  of  the  terms  of  salvation  upon  the  opening  of  the 
Christian  church  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  all  the  apostles 
did  the  same  subsequently  in  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel. 


*  Matt,  xviii.  18. 


t  John  XX.  23. 


84 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


The  meaning  is,  every  thing  done  and  taught  by  you  on 
earth,  according  to  the  order  I  prescribe,  is  at  the  same  time 
ratified  in  heaven.  This  mode  of  expression  was  familiar 
to  the  Jews,  and  may  be  clearly  elucidated  by  reference 
to  Lev.  xiii.  3,  23  :  The  priest  shall  look  on  him,  (the 
leper,)  and  pronounce  him  unclean,"  and  in  verse  23,  "  the 
priest  shall  pronounce  him  clean  and  so,  in  the  former 
ease,  he  pronounces  the  person  unfit  for  civil  society,  and 
in  the  latter,  he  pronounces  the  person  fit  to  associate  in 
civil  or  religious  society.  In  like  manner  the  apostles  were 
invested  with  authority  to  pronounce  who  were  fit  or  unfit 
to  associate  with  the  church  of  Christ,  always  however,  pro- 
nouncing a  judgment  according  to  the  doctrines  divinely 
prescribed  and  commanded  to  be  taught  and  applied  in  the 
government  of  the  church. 

That  these  terms  mean  bidding  and  forhidding,  granting 
and  refusing  J  declaring  what  is  lawful  or  unlawful,  permitted 
or  not  permitted,  Dr.  Lightfoot,  after  having  given  nume- 
rous instances,  thus  concludes :  To  these  may  be  added, 
if  need  were,  the  frequent,  (shall  I  say  ?)  or  infinite  use  of 
the  phrases,  hound  and  loosed,  which  we  meet  with  thousand 
of  times  over.  But  from  these  allegations  the  reader  sees 
abundantly  enough  both  the  frequency  and  the  common  use  of 
this  phrase,  and  the  sense  of  it  also;  viz.  first,  that  it  is  used 
in  doctrine  and  in  judgments,  concerning  things  allowed  or 
not  allowed  in  the  law.  Secondly,  that  to  bind  is  the  same 
with  to  forbid  or  to  declare  forbidden.  To  think  that  Christ, 
when  he  used  the  common  phrase,  was  not  understood  by  his 
hearers  in  the  common  and  vulgar  sense,  shall  I  call  a  mat- 
ter of  laughter  or  of  madness  ?  To  this,  therefore,  do  these 
words  amount :  When  the  time  was  come  wherein  the 
Mosaic  law,  as  to  some  part  of  it,  was  to  be  abolished 
and  left  off,  and  as  to  another  part  of  it,  was  to  be  con- 
tinued and  to  last  forever,  he  granted  Peter  here,  and 
to  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  chap,  xviii.  18.  a  power  to  aho- 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


85 


Usli  or  confirm  what  tliey  thought  good;  being  taught  this, 
and  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  if  he  should  say,  whatsoever 
ye  shall  hind  in  the  law  of  Moses  that  is  forbid^  it  shall  be 
forbidden^  the  divine  authority  confirming  it ;  and  what- 
soever ye  shall  Zoose,  that  is,  permit,  or  shall  teach,  that  is 
permitted  and  lawful,  shall  be  lawful  and  permitted.  Hence 
they  bound,  that  is,  forbade  circumcision  to  the  believers ; 
eating  of  things  offered  to  idols,  of  things  strangled,  and  of 
blood,  for  a  time,  to  the  Gentiles;  and  that  which  they 
bound  on  earth  was  confirmed  in  heaven.  They  loosed, 
that  is,  allowed  purification  to  Paul,  and  to  four  other  breth- 
ren, for  the  shunning  of  scandal,  (Acts  xxi.  24 ;)  and  in  a 
word,  by  these  words  of  Christ  it  was  committed  to  them,  the 
Holy  Spirit  directing,  that  they  should  make  decrees  con- 
cerning religion,  as  to  the  use  or  rejection  of  Mosaic  rites 
and  judgments,  and  that  either  for  a  time  or  forever.  Let 
the  words  be  applied  by  way  of  paraphrase  to  the  matter  that 
was  transacted  at  present  with  Peter :  ^  I  am  about  to  build 
a  Gentile  church,'  saith  Christ,  '  and  to  thee,  0  Peter,  do  I 
give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  that  thou  mayest 
first  open  the  door  of  faith  to  them ;  but  if  thou  asketh  by 
what  rule  that  church  is  to  be  governed,  when  the  Mosaic 
rule  may  seem  so  improper  for  it,  thou  shalt  be  so  guided 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  whatsoever  of  the  law  of  Moses 
thou  shalt  forbid  them,  shall  be  forbidden;  whatsoever  thou 
grantest  them,  shall  be  granted;  and  that  under  a  sanction 
made  in  heaven.'  Hence,  in  that  instance,  when  he  should 
use  his  keys,  that  is,  when  he  was  now  ready  to  open  the 
gate  of  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  (Acts  x.,)  he  was  taught 
from  heaven,  that  the  consorting  of  the  Jews  with  the  Gen- 
tiles, which  before  had  been  boiind,  was  now  loosed ;  and 
the  eating  of  any  creature  convenient  for  food,  was  now 
loosed,  which  before  had  been  bound  ;  and  he  in  like  man- 
ner looses  both  these.  Those  words  of  our  Saviour,  (John 
XX.  23,)  '  Whose  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  to  them,' 

8' 


86 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


for  the  most  part  are  forced  to  the  same  sense  with  these 
before  us,  when  they  carry  quite  another  sense.  Here  the 
business  is  of  doctrine  only,  not  of  persons  ;  there  of  per- 
sons  J  not  of  doctrine.  Here  of  things  lawful  or  iinlaicfid 
in  religion,  to  be  determined  by  the  apostles  ]  there  of  per- 
sons obstinate  or  not  ohstinate,  to  be  punished  by  them  or 
720^  to  be  punished.  As  to  doctrine^  the  apostles  were  doubly 
instructed  :  1.  So  long  sitting  at  the  feet  of  their  master, 
they  had  imbibed  the  evangelical  doctrine.  2.  The  Holy 
Spirit  directing  them,  they  were  to  determine  concerning 
the  legal  doctrine  and  practice,  being  completely  instructed 
and  enabled  in  both  by  the  Holy  Spirit  descending  upon 
them.  As  to  the  persons,  they  were  endowed  with  a  peculiar 
gift,  so  that  the  same  spirit  directed  them  if  they  would  re- 
tain and  punish  the  sins  of  any ;  a  power  was  delivered  into 
their  hands  of  delivering  to  Satan,  of  punishing  with  diseases j 
plagues,  yea,  death  itself,  which  Peter  did  to  Ananias  and 
Sapphira ;  Paul  to  Elymas,  Hymeneus,  and  Philetus,'^&c.* 
Again :  The  Father  hath  committed  authority  to  the 
Son  to  execute  all  judgment,^ and  the  Son  promised  the 
twelve  apostles  that  they  should  sit  on  twelve  thrones,  judg- 
ing the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. J  The  Son  is  the  chief 
Shepherd,!  and  the  apostles  are  the  shepherds  under  him, 
intrusted  with  the  care  of  the  flock.  ||  The  Son  was,  in  a 
peculiar  sense,  the  King  of  the  Jews,  and  after  his  death 
received  power  over  all  the  world,  and  so  after  his  death 
commissioned  the  apostles  to  admit  all  nations  into  the 
church  :  All  power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth. 
Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them,^^^  &c. 
The  Son  is  the  foundation  and  the  corner-stone  on  which 
the  church  is  built      and  the  apostles  are  called  a  part  of 

*  Quoted  by  Dr.  A.  Clarke,  Commentary,  Matt.  xvi.  19. 
t  John  V.  7.  t  Matt.  xix.  28. 

§  John  X.  11.    Heb.  xiii.  20.    1  Peter  v.  4.  ||  John  xi.  15-17. 

\  Matt,  xxviii.  18,  19.  1  Cor.  iii.  11. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  87 


this  foundation^  and  the  wall  of  the  new  Jerusalem  is  said 
to  have  twelve  foundations,  and  in  them  the  names  of  the 
twelve  apostles  ;*  and  the  church  itself  is  called  the  house- 
hold of  God,  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone. f 
That  in  these  and  other  passages  of  Scripture  the  apostles 
were  invested  with  great  authority  in  the  government  of  the 
church,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  And  it  is  of  the  highest 
importance  that  we  define  the  nature  and  extent  of  their 
authority  and  office,  which  may  be  done  by  an  examination 
of  their  official  administration  and  execution  after  the  as- 
cension of  Christ,  bearing  in  mind  always  that  what  they 
taught  and  did  was  taught  and  done  by  the  command  of 
Christ,  and  under  the  guidance  of  the  infallible  Spirit. 

First,  let  us  consider  apostolic  acts  that  related  to  the 
members  of  the  church  without  distinction.  So  complete 
was  the  system  of  religious  and  moral  duties  prescribed  by 
Christ,  that  the  apostles  made  no  addition  of  new  duties ; 
but  when  any  of  Christ's  laws  required  explanation,  their 
judgment  was  obeyed  as  expressing  the  will  of  Christ. 
They  were  invested  with  authority  to  enjoin  what  they  saw 
was  required  for  the  external  peace  of  any  church  which 
they  formed,  or  the  external  order  and  decency  of  divine 
worship.  In  the  book  of  Acts  we  find  few  examples  of  the 
exercise  of  this  authority,  because  this  book  is  scarcely  more 
than  a  history  of  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
conversion  of  the  first  churches  to  the  faith,  and  little  is 
said  about  their  subsequent  government.  There  is  one 
prominent  example,  however,  in  which  the  apostles  and 
elders  of  Jerusalem  decreed,  that  Gentile  converts  should 
be  released  from  obligation  to  observe  the  Mosaic  law,  some 
few  precepts,  necessary  for  those  times,  excepted.  But  in 
the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  we  find  many  rules  and  directions 


*  Rev.  xxi.  14. 


t  Eph.  ii.  19,  20. 


88 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


for  the  government  of  the  churches,  never  expressly  en- 
joined by  Christ,  and  some  of  them  expressly  enjoined  by 
St.  Paul's  authority.  The  7th,  8th,  11th,  and  14th  chap- 
ters of  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  are  of  this 
character.  And  to  the  married  I  command,  yet  not  I, 
but  the  Lord ;  but  to  the  rest  speak  I,  not  the  Lord.''''' 
And  he  promises  to  make  other  regulations  at  his  coming : 

And  the  rest  will  I  set  in  order  when  I  come.''f  He 
refers  to  other  rules,  appointed  by  him  in  other  churches, 
which  are  not  said  to  have  been  made  by  Christ: 
"  And  so  ordain  I  in  all  the  churches.'' J  He  exercised  the 
same  authority  over  the  Thessalonians :  We  have  confi- 
dence that  ye  both  do,  and  will  do  the  things  which  we 
command  you.  When  we  were  with  you  we  commanded 
you,  that  if  any  would  not  work,  neither  should  he  eat. 
Them  that  are  such  we  command,  that  with  quietness  they 
work,  and  eat  their  own  bread." §  And  these  rules,  enacted 
by  apostolic  authority,  were  enforced  by  suitable  punish- 
ments, and  recognised  by  the  churches  :  And  his  inward 
affection  is  more  abundant  towards  you,  whilst  he  remem- 
bereth  the  obedience  of  you  all,  how  with  fear  and  trembling 
ye  received  him."||  This  is  said  of  Titus,  whom  he  had 
sent  with  authority  to  them;  and  he  often  reminds  them  of 
his  own  authority,  which  the  Lord  had  given  for  edification  : 

Wherefore  I  write  these  things  being  absent,  lest  being 
present,  I  should  use  sharpness,  [arioroiita]  according  to  the 
power  (authority)  which  the  Lord  has  given  me  to  edifica- 
tion, and  not  to  destruction."^  ATzoroiita,  (a  cutting  off)  im- 
plying his  apostolic  authority  to  inflict  punishment,  but 
which  he  wished  to  use  rather  for  edification.  And  by 
virtue  of  the  same  authority,  he  threatens  to  come  unto 
them  with  a  rod,  to  revenge  all  disohedience.^^    That  he 

*  1  Cor.  vii.  10,  11.  f  1  Cor.  xi.  24.  %  1  Cor.  vii.  17. 

§  2  Thess.  iii.  4,  10,  12.        |!  2  Cor.  vii.  15.  <[  2  Cor.  xiii.  10. 

2  Cor.  X.  6,  8    xiii.  10. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


89 


vjould  he  found  among  tJiem  such  as  they  would  not^  and 
that  he  would  not  spare.'\  He  commands  the  Thessaloni- 
ans  to  withdraw  themselves  from  every  brother  that  walketh 
disorderly,  and  not  after  the  traditions  which  they  received 
of  him/^  and  ^^if  any  man  obey  not  our  word/'  he  con- 
tinueS;  ^'  note  that  man,  and  have  no  company  with  him, 
that  he  may  be  ashamed/' J  By  ^^traditions''  he  means  the 
instructions  which  he  had  given  in  his  First  Epistle  to  this 
church,  and  which  had  been  construed  by  many  as  indicat- 
ing the  proximity  of  the  kingdom  of  Grod,  who  consequently 
gave  up  working,  and  wandered  about  in  fanatical  idleness, 
while  there  was  yet  a  number  of  quiet  persons  who  resisted 
the  fanaticism;  and  these  the  apostle  commends  to  withdraw 
from  the  communion  of  those  who  walked  disorderly.  In 
like  manner  he  requires  the  Corinthians  not  to  keep 
company,  if  any  man  that  is  called  a  brother,  be  a  forni- 
cator, or  covetous,  or  an  idolater,  or  a  railer,  or  a  drunkard, 
or  an  extortioner;  with  such  a  one,  do  not  eat/'§  In  his 
absence  he  condemned  the  incestuous  Corinthian :  I  verily, 
as  absent  in  body,  but  present  in  spirit,  have  judged  already 
as  though  I  were  present,  that  such  an  one  be  delivered  to 
Satan,  and  that  he  be  put  away  from  among  you."||  In 
like  manner  he  delivered  Hymeneus  and  Alexander  unto 
Satan,  that  they  might  learn  not  to  blasphemc^f  And  he 
writes  to  the  church  at  Corinth  to  know  whether  the  judg- 
ment or  sentence  he  gave  in  the  case  of  the  incestuous 
person,  has  been  executed,  and  whether  they  are  obedient 
in  all  other  things :  For  to  this  end  also  did  I  write  that 
I  might  know  the  proof  of  you,  whether  ye  be  obedient  in 
all  things."** 

The  apostles  exercised  the  power  and  authority  of  pardon- 
ing and  absolving  from  punishment,  in  conformity  to  the 

*  2  Cor.  xii.  20.  f  2  Cor.  xiii.  2.  J  2  Thess.  iii.  6,  14. 

i  1  Cor.  V.  11.  II  1  Cor.  v.  3-5,  7,  13.     %  1  Tim.  i.  20. 

2  Cor.  ii.  9. 


90 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


requisitions  of  the  gospel.  Upon  the  repentance  of  the 
incestuous  person  above  mentioned,  St.  Paul  decided : 
Sufficient  to  such  a  man  is  this  punishment/"  and  he  adds, 
to  whom  ye  forgave  any  thing,  I  forgave  also :  for  if  I 
forgave  any  thing,  to  whom  I  forgave  it  for  your  sakes,  for- 
gave I  it  in  the  person  of  Christ  that  is,  in  conformity 
to  the  gospel  of  Christ  committed  to  me.  That  the  apostles 
were  invested  with  authority  to  govern  the  church,  may  be 
further  proved  from  a  discussion  that  arose  at  this  time  in 
the  Corinthian  church.  Certain  persons  denied  St.  Paul's 
authority  to  govern  the  church,  not  that  the  authority  which 
he  exercised  belonged  to  the  apostolic  office,  for  this  would 
have  placed  upon  him  the  defence  of  the  power  of  the 
apostles  to  govern  the  church ;  but  they  denied  that  he  was 
an  apostle,  because  he  had  been  a  persecutor,  and  was  not 
one  of  the  twelve,  and  so  they  chose  rather  to  be  called  the 
followers  of  Apollos,  an  eloquent  orator,  or  of  Cephas,  the 
first  apostle.  And  so  St.  Paul  proceeds  to  prove  himself 
to  be  an  apostle,  both  in  a  general  and  a  particular  sense : 
Am  I  not  an  apostle  ?  If  I  be  not  an  apostle  to  others, 
yet  doubtless  I  am  to  you,  whom  I  have  converted,  and  on 
whom  I  have  conferred  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  that 
ye  are  the  seal  of  mine  apostleship  in  the  Lord.'^f  Indeed, 
he  tells  them  that  he  was  not  a  whit  behind  the  chiefest 
apostles  f'l  and  concludes,  Truly  the  signs  of  an  apostle 
were  wrought  among  you  in  all  patience,  in  signs  and  won- 
ders, and  mighty  deeds. Thus  the  apostle,  having  proved 
his  right  to  the  apostolic  office,  proved  his  right  to  govern 
the  church. 

That  the  ministry  are  invested  with  judicial  authority 
over  the  church,  in  the  manner  stated,  is  expressly  declared 
in  the  following  command  of  Christ :     If  thy  brother  shall 


*  2  Cor.  ii.  6,  10. 
:|:  2  Cor.  xi.  5. 


t  1  Cor.  ix.  1,  2. 
g  2  Cor.  xii.  12. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OP  THE  CHURCH. 


91 


trespass  against  thee,  go  and  tell  him  his  fault  between  him 
and  thee  alone ;  if  he  shall  hear  thee,  thou  hast  gained  thy 
brother.  But  if  he  will  not  hear  thee,  then  take  with  thee 
one  or  two  more,  that  in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses 
every  word  may  be  established.  And  if  he  shall  neglect  to 
hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  church ;  but  if  he  neglect  to 
hear  the  church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  an  heathen  man 
and  a  publican.''*  The  order  here  is,  private  conference 
with  the  offender;  then  admonition  before  witnesses;  then 
complaint  to  the  church ;  then  the  sentence  of  the  church, 
that  separates  the  obstinate  offender  from  the  communion 
of  the  faithful,  which  reduces  him  to  the  state  of  heathens. 
But  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  the  whole  church  considered 
the  case,  and  gave  sentence.  It  is  a  common  way  of  speak- 
ing, to  ascribe  to  any  society  what  is  done  by  the  rulers  of 
it,  or  by  some  constitutional  proceeding.  In  political  bodies, 
a  judicial  sentence  by  those  in  authority  is  the  sentence  of 
the  whole  body,  though  the  greater  part  never  heard  of  it. 
Thus  complaints  are  to  be  made  to  the  rulers  of  the  church, 
who  are  to  investigate  and  dispose  of  them  according  to  the 
rules  and  regulations  made  and  provided  for  them.  The 
direction  is  general ;  and  the  rulers  of  the  church,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  Bible,  are  to  determine  the  character  and 
mode  of  proceeding.  As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  so 
send  I  you.  And  when  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on 
them,  and  saith  unto  them.  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Whosoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them ;  and 
whosoever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained. ''f  That  is, 
this  authority  is  to  be  exercised  upon  the  principles  and 
doctrines  which  Christ  had  already  taught  them.  For 
whatever  was  done  and  taught  by  the  apostles  in  accordance 
with  what  Christ  had  taught  them,  was  in  accordance  with 
his  will  in  heaven,  just  as  if  still  with  them  in  the  church 


*  Matt,  xviii.  15-17. 


t  John  XX.  21-23. 


92 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


on  earth.  And  so  with  the  rulers  of  the  church,  to  the  end 
of  the  world. 

This  is  confirmed  by  the  sense  and  practice  of  the  apostles. 
In  the  case  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  they  were  struck 
dead  by  God,  in  attestation  of  the  apostolic  authority  of 
Peter  to  determine  what  was  wrong  in  their  conduct.  Simon 
the  magician  was  excluded  from  the  church  by  Peter : 

thou  hast  neither  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter,  for  thy  heart 
is  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God.'^*  That  is,  thou  hast  no 
part  in  the  gospel — ru)  XSyo)  toutoj — which  is  the  same  as  to  be 
excluded  from  the  communion  and  privileges  of  the  church 
founded  upon  the  gospel  covenant.  This  was  understood 
by  the  primitive  church  to  be  the  meaning  of  this  phrase ; 
and  so  it  was  decreed,  in  one  of  the  apostolic  canons,  ^^That 
if  any  bishop,  priest,  or  deacon,  gives  money  to  be  ordained, 
both  the  person  ordained,  and  he  who  ordained  him,  shall 
be  deposed  from  their  office,  and  wholly  rejected  from  com- 
munion, as  Simon  the  magician  was  by  Peter.^^f  The  case 
of  the  incestuous  member  of  the  Corinthian  church,  already 
alluded  to,  is  another  striking  example  of  apostolic  executive 
authority  :  For  I  verily,  as  absent  in  body,  but  present  in 
spirit,  have  judged  already,  as  though  I  were  present,  con- 
cerning him  that  hath  done  this  deed  :  in  the  name  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  ye  are  gathered  together,  and  my 
spirit,  with  the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  deliver 
such  an  one  unto  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that 
the  spirit  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus. J 
Here  sentence  is  passed  by  the  apostolic  authority  of  Paul, 
expressed  in  the  phrase,  my  spirit  — an  authority  con- 
ferred on  him  by  the  Lord  Jesus.  This  sentence  is  passed 
by  the  church,  not  by  the  whole  congregation,  but  according 
to  the  ecclesiastical  process,  whatever  it  was,  at  this  time  in 
use  in  this  church,  and  in  accordance  with  the  constitution 


*  Acts  viii.  20.  f  Apos.  com.  12.  i  1  Cor.  v.  3-5. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


93 


of  evangelical  principles  framed  by  Christ  himself,  the  su- 
preme lawgiver.  As  baptism  signifies  renunciation  of  the 
devil  and  all  his  works,  and  all  persons  covenant  to  do  this 
at  their  baptism,  all  who  break  this  baptismal  covenant  dis- 
obey Christ,  and  openly  adhere  to  Satan,  and  so  are  to  be 
delivered  again  to  Satan,  and  reduced  to  the  state  of  heathens; 
not  in  order  to  their  eternal  damnation,  but  for  their  ad- 
monition, correction,  recovery,  and  salvation,  by  bringing 
them  to  repentance  and  faith,  as  is  evident  from  the  apos- 
tle's reference  to  this  case  again  in  his  Second  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians  :  Sufficient  to  such  an  one  is  this  punish- 
ment, which  was  inflicted  of  many;'^"^  which  indicates  that 
the  apostle  directs  the  church  to  comfort  and  forgive  the 
offender,  by  restoring  him  to  the  communion  of  the  church. 
That  is,  the  censure  which  he  had  before  decreed,  in  the 
name  and  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  he  now  remits  by  the 
same  authority  :  ^'  To  whom  ye  forgave  any  thing,  I  forgive 
also  :  for  if  I  forgive  any  thing,  to  whom  I  forgave  it,  for 
your  sakes  forgave  I  it,  in  the  person  of  Christ  /'f  which 
is  proof  that  the  apostles  possessed  judicial  power  to  censure 
upon  offence,  and  to  remit  censure  upon  repentance.  And 
though  this  was  done  in  the  presence  of  the  church,  or  a 
select  number,  yet  the  censure  and  the  remission  were  de- 
creed by  apostolic  authority  :  Therefore  put  away  from 
you  that  wicked  person J  ^^for  this  end  also  did  I  write, 
that  I  might  know  the  proof  of  you,  whether  ye  be  obedient 
in  all  things. In  other  passages  he  threatens  to  come  to 
the  disobedient  with  the  rod,  and  to  the  obedient  he  promises 
to  come  with  love  and  in  the  spirit  of  meekness.  In  other 
places  he  threatens  he  would  not  spare,  but  would  use 
sharpness,  and  revenge  all  disobedience,  and  this  by  the 
authority  which  the  Lord  had  given  him.||    And  again  he 


*  2  Cor.  ii.  6. 
J  2  Cor.  ii.  9. 


t  2  Cor.  ii.  10.  %  1  Cor.  v.  13. 

II  2  Cor.  X.  6,  8  ;  xiii.  2,  10. 


94 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


says:  ^'I  fear,  lest  when  I  come,  I  shall  not  find  you  such  as 
I  would,  and  that  I  shall  be  found  unto  you  such  as  ye 
would  not/'*  which  certainly  means  his  exercising  authority 
in  censuring  offenders,  in  accordance  with  the  gospel. 

False  doctrine  is  also  a  ground  of  expulsion,  as  much  as 
treason  is  in  civil  law,  which  is  as  just  a  ground  of  civil 
punishment  as  the  violation  of  constitutional  or  statutary 
law,  or  any  other  civil  crime,  is.  St.  Paul  tells  Timothy 
that  he  had  delivered  Hymeneus  over  to  Satan,  who  had 
blasphemed  and  made  shipwreck  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
of  whom  he  says,  that  he  had  erred  concerning  the  faith, 
saying,  that  the  resurrection  is  passed  already.'^f  He 
directs  the  Romans  to  shun  the  company  of  those  who  sowed 
dissensions  among  them;  that  is,  expel  such  from  the  church : 
^^Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  mark  them  which  cause 
divisions  and  offences  contrary  to  the  doctrine  which  ye 
have  learned ;  and  avoid  them.'' J  And  to  the  Thessalonians 
he  writes  :  We  command  you,  brethren,  in  the  name  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  withdraw  yourselves  from 
every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly,  and  not  after  the 
traditions  he  received  of  us.''§  And  again  :  If  any  man 
obey  not  our  word  by  this  epistle,  note  that  man,  and  have 
no  company  with  him,  that  he  may  be  ashamed.'' j]  Indeed, 
St.  John  not  only  requires  the  church  to  shun  the  company 
of  heretics,  but  to  deny  them  common  civilities  :  If  there 
come  any  unto  you,  and  bring  not  this  doctrine,  receive  him 
not  into  your  house,  neither  bid  him  God-speed.  For  he 
that  biddeth  him  God-speed,  is  partaker  of  his  evil  deeds."^ 
But  not  only  had  the  apostles  authority  to  make  and  execute 
ecclesiastical  rules  and  regulations,  but  the  churches  to 
which  they  wrote  had  inherent  power,  by  the  proper  authori- 


*  2  Cor.  xii.  20,  21.        f  1  Tim.  i.  19,  20 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  17,  18. 
X  Rom.  xvi.  17.  ^2  Thes.  iii.  6.  |1  2  Thess.  iii.  14. 

If  2  John  10,  11. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OP  THE  CHURCH.  95 


tieS;  to  do  the  same^  according  to  particular  and  general 
precepts  given  by  the  apostles.  St.  Paul  writes  to  Timothy  : 
Against  an  elder  receive  not  an  accusation  but  before  two 
or  three  witnesses  which  precept  implies,  that  accusations 
might  be  received  against  private  members  of  the  churches 
also,  and  witnesses  heard  and  censures  passed,  if  found 
guilty.  And  he  writes  to  Titus :  A  man  that  is  a  heretic, 
after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  reject  :''f  which  im- 
ports that  heretics,  after  the  proper  trial,  are  to  be  excluded 
from  the  communion  of  Christians.  St.  John  threatens  to 
expel  Diotrephes  for  a  very  high  abuse  of  his  jurisdiction  : 

Wherefore  if  I  come,  I  will  remember  his  deeds  which  he 
doeth,'' J  which  implies  that,  after  proper  trial,  he  would  de- 
pose him  from  his  office.  And  so  the  angel  or  governor  of 
the  church  at  Ephesus  had  authority  to  try  and  convict 
false  prophets  ;§  and  the  governor  of  the  church  at  Per- 
gamos  was  severely  reproved  for  retaining  the  Nicolaitans 
in  the  communion  of  the  church;  and  the  ruler  of  the 
church  at  Thyatira,  for  suffering  the  woman  Jezebel.  1| 

It  seems  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  church 
government  that  laymen  should  have  this  jurisdiction,  or 
determine  rules  and  regulations  in  church  trials. Primi- 
tive ages  afford  no  examples  of  the  kind. 

It  has  been  objected,  that  mischievous  and  pernicious 
consequences  have  followed  from  the  undue  use  of  clerical 


*  1  Tim.  V.  19.  t  Titus  iii.  10.  t  3  John  9,  10. 

§  Rev.  ii.  2.  ||  Rev.  ii.  15,  16,  20. 

^  "  That  the  power  of  inflicting  censures  on  offenders  in  a  Christian 
church  is  a  fundamental  right,  resulting  from  the  constitution  of  the 
church,  as  a  society  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  the  seat  of  this  power  is  in 
those  oflScers  of  the  church  who  have  derived  their  power  originally  from 
the  founder  of  this  society,  and  act  by  virtue  of  the  laws  of  it'^ — is  a 
principle  which  Stillingfleet,  in  his  Irenicum,  endeavors  to  make  good. 
The  power  of  discipline,  he  argues,  should  be  administered  by  those  who 
have  the  care  of  the  churches,  and  these  are  the  several  pastors  of 
them. — Pages  444,  458. 


96 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


jurisdiction.  And  yet  we  must  not  conclude  that  the 
ministers  of  the  church  have  not  this  jurisdiction.  It 
would  destroy  all  government^  spiritual  and  civil,  to  reject 
plain  and  undoubted  laws,  and  wise  and  proper  authority, 
because  remote  and  uncertain  consequences  and  inconve- 
niences attend  them.  There  is  no  institution  in  the  world, 
divine  or  human,  which  weak,  designing,  and  wicked  men 
may  not  abuse  to  evil  purposes.  If  there  was  no  govern- 
ment, there  would  be  no  tyranny,  no  rebellion ;  if  no  pro- 
perty, there  would  be  no  rapine ;  if  there  was  no  faith,  there 
would  be  no  heresy ;  nor  any  schism,  if  there  was  no  union 
between  the  members  of  the  church;  and  therefore  the 
same  reason  which  some  have  urged  against  excommunica- 
tion, will  oblige  us  to  give  up  our  civil  government  and  pro- 
perties, our  Christian  faith  and  communion,  and  conse- 
quently both  our  church  and  state. The  ends  for  which 
the  church  was  instituted  could  not  be  accomplished  without 
a  proper  form  of  government.  These  ends  are  principally 
the  following : — The  honor  of  God  and  his  church  requires 
that  offenders  be  expelled  from  Christian  communion. 
Christ  gave  himself  for  the  church,  that  he  might  present 
it  to  himself  a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle, 
or  any  such  thing ;  but  that  it  might  be  holy  and  without 
blemish. ^^-j*  Consequently,  if  wicked  men  are  kept  in  the 
church,  the  design  of  the  constitution  of  the  church  is  per- 
verted, our  Lord,  its  founder  and  head,  is  dishonored,  and 
his  holy  religion  degraded.  The  permission  of  such  men 
to  worship  God  in  the  public  congregation,  to  receive  the 
holy  sacraments,  which  are  the  seals  and  pledges  of  his 
favor,  and  to  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  his  chosen  generation, 
or  royal  priesthood,  or  holy  nation,  or  peculiar  people,  is 
not  only  an  open  affront  to  him,  but  gives  a  great  occasion 
of  scandal  to  his  enemies  and  his  religion.    And  therefore 


*  Potter,  on  Church  Government,  p.  346. 


t  Eph.  V.  26,  27. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


97 


St.  Paul  tells  the  Jews,  that  the  name  of  God  was  blas- 
phemed through  them  among  the  Gentiles.''"^  And  so  the 
prophet  told  David,  in  the  case  of  Uriah,  that  he  must  be 
punished,  because  he  had  given  the  enemies  of  the  Lord 
occasion  to  blaspheme. f  The  church  is  considered  as  sanc- 
tioning the  scandalous  lives  of  her  members,  when  she 
neglects  to  clear  herself,  by  reforming  or  excluding  such 
from  her  communion.  The  dignity  and  reputation  of  the 
church  are  never  so  great  as  when  discipline  is  exercised 
with  severity,  impartiality,  and  vigor,  as  was  the  case  in 
apostolic  and  primitive  ages,  and  in  early  Methodism.  And 
wherever  primitive  discipline  has  been  suspended,  and  Chris- 
tians have  lived  like  the  rest  of  men,  though  the  church  has 
been  protected  by  civil  power,  and  flourished  with  outward 
splendor,  and  Christianity,  as  a  system,  has  been  exalted  in 
public  opinion,  fewer  converts  than  formerly  have  been  added 
to  her  communion,  and  a  far  greater  proportion  of  her  own 
members  have  lost  their  first  love  and  zeal  for  God.  In  the 
next  place,  the  design  of  church  government  or  discipline  is 
to  reform  offenders.  St.  Paul  affirms  that  his  authority  to 
exercise  discipline  is  the  power  which  the  Lord  had  given 
him  for  edification,  and  not  for  destruction.'^  J  The  salutary 
effect  of  the  exercise  of  this  authority,  in  the  case  of  ex- 
communicating the  incestuous  Corinthian,  is  seen  in  his  re- 
formation and  restoration  to  communion.  Scarcely  any 
thing  contributed  more  to  keep  Christians  from  offending 
than  the  severity  of  primitive  discipline.  A  public'  expul- 
sion from  the  church,  and  from  the  communion  and  confi- 
dence of  those  for  whom  we  have  the  highest  love  and  reve- 
rence, is  a  strong  appeal  to  fear  and  shame,  two  prevailing 
passions  of  the  heart;  and  thus  St.  Paul  writes  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians :  If  any  man  obey  not  our  word  by  this  epistle, 
note  that  man,  and  have  no  company  with  him,  that  he  may 


*  Rom.  ii.  24.  f  2  Sam.  xii.  14.  ^  2  Cor.  x.  8 ;  xiii.  10. 

9 


98 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


be  ashamed/''^  In  the  terrible  retribution  upon  Ananias 
and  Sapphira,  great  fear  came  upon  the  church,  and  upon 
as  many  as  heard  it/'f  St.  Paul  smote  Elymas,  the  sorcerer, 
with  blindness,  and  so  restrained  him  from  turning  away 
Sergius  Paulus,  the  deputy  of  Cyprus,  from  the  faith.  J  And 
thus  Christians,  Jews,  and  infidels  had  cause  to  fear  the 
exercise  of  apostolic  power.  It  is  true,  this  miraculous 
method  of  punishing  has  for  ages  ceased  from  the  church, 
but  a  greater  cause  of  fear,  eternal  punishment,  still  exists; 
to  which  a  just  expulsion  from  the  church  virtually  consigns 
every  finally  impenitent  offender,  and  whicli  will  confirm 
the  sentence  of  the  church.  Exclusion  from  the  church 
must  cause  the  careless  and  inconsiderate  to  think  seriously 
upon  their  condition ;  and  ministers  and  other  Christians 
should  admonish,  instruct,  and  encourage  all  such  to  reform 
and  return  to  the  church,  as  St.  Paul  advises  the  Thessa- 
lonians  to  do  in  the  case  of  a  brother  whom  he  requires 
them  to  avoid  at  other  times :  Count  him  not  as  an  enemy, 
but  admonisb  him  as  a  brother.'^ §  Beside,  the  exercise  of 
ministerial  discipline  in  excommunicating  offenders  is  a 
means  of  preserving  the  rest  of  the  church  from  corruption. 
This  is  the  reason  St.  Paul  gives  for  the  expulsion  of  the 
incestuous  Corinthian  :  Know  ye  not,  that  a  little  leaven 
leaveneth  the  whole  lump  ?  Purge  out  therefore  the  old 
leaven.'^ II  The  effect  of  retaining  wicked  men  in  the 
church  is  still  more  clearly  set  forth  in  what  Paul  says  to 
Timothy  :  Shun  profane  and  vain  babblings,  for  they  will 
increase  unto  more  ungodliness,  and  their  word  will  eat  as 
doth  a  canker,  of  whom  is  Hymeneus  and  Philetus,  who 
concerning  the  truth  have  erred,  saying,  that  the  resurrec- 
tion is  past  already,  and  overthrow  the  faith  of  some.'^^ 
The  exercise  of  this  authority  is  agreeable  to  the  general 


^  2  Thess.  iii.  14.  f  Acts  v.  11.  %  Acts  xiii.  8,  11. 

§  2  Thees.  iii.  15.  |)  1  Cor.  v.  6^  7.       f  2  Tim.  ii,  16-18. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


99 


sense  and  practice  of  mankind.  In  civil  societies,  laws  are 
enacted  and  methods  appointed  for  punishing  notorious 
offenders,  either  by  confinement,  death,  or  banishment. 
And  so,  in  voluntary  associations,  those  members  are  ex- 
cluded who  give  disturbance  to  the  rest.  Among  the  Jews, 
notorious  offenders  were  punished  with  death  :  The  soul 
that  doth  aught  presumptuously,  whether  he  be  born  in  the 
land,  or  a  stranger,  the  same  reproacheth  the  Lord,  and  that 
soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  his  people.^ '"^  After  the 
Babylonish  captivity,  by  the  direction  of  Ezra,  the  children 
of  the  captivity  were  commanded  to  gather  themselves 
together  unto  J erusalem ;  and  whoever  would  not  come  in 
three  days,  all  his  substance  should  be  forfeited,  and  himself 
separated  from  the  congregation. f  Expulsion  from  tho 
church  was  very  frequent  in  our  Saviour's  time,  and  he 
seems  to  allude  to  it,  when  he  tells  the  apostles  that  the 
rest  of  the  Jews  shall  separate  them  from  their  company. J 
The  rulers  of  the  Jews  agreed  that  if  any  man  should 
confess  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  he  should  be  put  out  of  the 
synagogue  ;§  that  is,  expelled  from  the  Jewish  church. 
Thus,  among  the  chief  rulers  many  believed  on  him,  but 
*  because  of  the  Pharisees  they  did  not  confess  him,  lest  they 
should  be  put  out  of  the  synagogue.'^!!  In  about  sixty 
passages  in  which  this  word  occurs  in  the  New  Testament, 
it  means  a  place  for  divine  service,  and  no  other  sense  can 
rationally  be  put  upon  it.  And  so,  in  the  practice  of  other 
nations,  profane  persons  were  excluded  from  all  holy  myste- 
ries :  Semper  piae  initiationes  arceant  profanos.\  In 
Greece  and  at  Rome,  before  solemn  prayers  and  sacrifices, 
it  was  proclaimed,  Be  gone,  all  that  are  profane. Some 
sort  of  excommunication  was  observed  by  all  nations. 

»  Numb.  XV.  SO.  f  Ezra  x.  7,  8.         %  Luko  vi.  22. 

§  John  ix.  22.  |1  John  xii.  42.         %  Tertul  Apol.  cap.  vii. 

**  Procul,  0  procul  este,  profani,  conclamat  vatgp ;  totoqtie  absiste, 
luce, — ^neid.  vL  259. 


100 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


7.  The  authorities  on  this  subject  are  abundant.  It  "is 
left  to  the  prudence  of  every  particular  churcb  to  agree 
i:opn  that  form  of  government  which  it  judgeth  most  condu- 
eible  within  itself  to  attain  the  end  of  government,  the 
peace,  order,  tranquility,  and  settlement  of  the  church.'^* 
The  Irenicum  is  an  elaborate — the  most  elaborate — argument 
of  uninspired  men,  in  proof  of  this  great  truth.  This  great 
truth  Stillingfleet  states  more  fully  in  the  following  lan- 
guage :  In  which  sense  I  assert  aAy  particular  form  of 
government  agreed  on  by  the  governors  of  the  church, 
consonant  to  the  general  rules  of  Scrirptiire^  to  be  by  divine 
right;  i.e.  God  by  his  own  laws  hath  given  men  a  power  and 
liberty  to  determine  the  particular  form  of  church  govern- 
ment among  them.  And  hence,  it  may  appear,  that  though 
one  form  of  government  be  agreeable  to  the  world,  it  doth 
not  follow  that  another  is  not;  or  because  one  is  lawful, 
another  is  unlawful :  but  one  form  may  be  more  agreeable 
to  some  parts,  places,  people,  and  times,  than  others  are. 
In  which  case  that  form  of  government  is  to  be  settled 
which  is  most  agreeable  to  the  present  state  of  a  place,  and 
is  most  advantageously  conducible  to  promoting  the  ends  of 
church  government  in  that  place  or  nation.'^ f  This  right 
or  power  of  those  in  authority  in  a  particular  church  to 
determine  its  form  of  government,  is  founded  upon  a  divine 
law  or  principle  immutable  in  itself,  and  obligatory  in  all 
ages  of  time ;  viz.,  that  such  things  as  are  necessary  to  the 
being,  upholding,  and  continuance  of  the  church  of  God, 
concurring  with  the  written  word,  be  observed,  as  preaching 
the  word,  administering  the  sacraments,  and  church  disci- 
pline. And  so,  if  we  can  prove,  as  we  think  we  can,  that 
the  institution  of  class  meeting  is  essential  to  the  being, 
upholding,  and  continuance  of  the  Methodist  Church 
as  an  itinerant  church,  it  will  follow  that  the  observance 


*  Stillingfleet's  Irenicum,  p.  36. 


t  Ibid.  p.  41. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 


101 


of  it  must  be  substantially  a  scriptural  test  of  member- 
ship. 

That  each  evangelical  church  has  a  divine  right  to  adopt 
any  form  of  government,  conformably  to  the  written  word, 
is  the  almost  unanimous  verdict  of  the  most  eminent  divines 
who  lived  during,  and  have  lived  since,  the  Reformation. 
Not  to  detain  the  reader  with  a  multitude  of  quotations  in 
proof  of  this,  I  begin  with  the  testimony  of  Stillingfleet: 
^^I  believe  there  will,  upon  the  most  impartial  survey, 
scarce  be  one  church  of  the  Keformation  brought,  which 
doth  embrace  any  form  of  government  because  it  looked 
vpon  that  form  as  only  necessary  hy  an  unalterable  stand- 
ing law ;  but  every  one  took  up  that  form  of  government 
which  loas  judged  most  suitable  to  the  state  and  condition  of 
their  several  churches.  But,  that  I  may  the  better  make 
this  appear,  I  shall  make  use  of  some  arguments,  whereby 
to  demonstrate  that  the  most  eminent  divines  that  have 
lived  since  the  Reformation  have  been  all  of  this  mind, 
that  no  one  form  is  determined  as  necessary  for  the  church 
of  God  in  all  ages  of  the  world.^^"^  And  from  the  authori- 
ties which  he  adduces,  we  select  the  following:  '^Arch- 
bishop Whitgift,  frequently  against  Cartwright,  asserts 
*  that  the  form  of  discipline  is  not  particularly  and  by  name 
set  down  in  Scripture  /  and  again,  '  No  kind  of  government 
is  expressed  in  the  Word,  or  can  necessarily  be  concluded 
from  thence which  he  repeats  over  again :  '  No  form  of 
church  government  is  by  the  Scriptures  prescribed  to  or 
commanded  the  church  of  God.'  And  so  Dr.  Cosins,  his 
chancellor :  '  All  churches  have  not  the  same  form  of  disci- 
pline, neither  is  it  necessary  that  they  should,  seeing  it 
cannot  be  proved  that  any  certain  particular  form  of  church- 
government  is  commanded  to  us  by  the  word  of  God.'  To 
the  same  purpose  Dr.  Low :  '  No  certain  form  of  govern- 


Irenicum,  p.  408. 
9* 


102 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


ment  is  prescribed  in  the  word,  only  general  rules  laid  down 
for  it/  Bishop  Bridges  :  ^  God  hath  not  expressed  the  form 
of  church-government,  at  least,  not  so  as  to  bind  us  to  it/ 
Dr.  Sutcliffe  (de  Presbyterio)  largely  disputes  against  those 
who  assert  that  Christ  hath  laid  certain  immutable  laws  for 
government  of  the  church.  Crakan thorp,  against  Spalaten- 
sis  :  '  It  has  been  transmitted,  therefore,  by  the  apostles, 
but  though  transmitted,  it  is  changeable  and  to  be  changed, 
according  to  the  experience  and  judgment  of  the  church.' 
Chilling  worth :  '  The  external  forms,  and  orders,  and 
government  may  be  diverse  in  diverse  places.'  Zanchy,  in 
his  commentaries  upon  the  fourth  command  :  ^  No  particular 
form  to  be  prescribed,  but  only  general  rules  laid  down  in 
Scripture  that  all  be  done  to  edification.'  The  judicious 
Amyraldus :  '  Since,  therefore,  Christ  and  the  apostles 
wisely  settled  this,  it  belongs  to  all  particular  churches  to 
be  governed  by  their  pastors,  and  to  be  ruled  by  some  form 
which  the  necessity  of  the  case  may  require.  But  what 
that  form  should  be,  whether  some  should  excel  others  in 
authority  or  not,  hath  neither  been  defined  by  the  nature  of 
the  thing,  nor  settled  by  Christ  or  the  apostles.  But,  in 
the  first  place,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  it  seems  to  have  been, 
thus  far,  resolved  on,  that  after  whatever  law  the  pastors  of 
evangelical  churches  have  existed,  that  they  should  in  the 
same  manner  proceed,  but  that  no  one  should  endeavor  to 
destroy  the  constitution  of  the  others.  Therefore,  in  what- 
ever manner  certain  forms  of  church-government  seem  more 
suitable  and  accommodating  to  some  to  obtain  that  disci- 
pline or  object  of  church  polity,  nevertheless  God,  who  is 
the  author  and  guardian  of  all  society,  (evangelical,)  is  not 
willing  that  all  congregations  should  be  held  by  the  same 
law,  but  he  willed  to  each  a  power  to  compose  laws  for 
itself,  which  he  sanctioned  by  his  own  authority.  Though 
there  is  no  doubt  but  that  of  various  methods  of  church- 
government  some  are  more  conclusive  than  others  to  obtain 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


103 


ttat  wMch  religion  has  established  as  the  end,  nevertheless 
the  most  wise  and  indulgent  Being  willed  that  each  church 
should  have  the  right  of  enacting  those  laws  for  itself  which 
have  reference  to  discipline  and  the  preservation  of  order, 
^so  that  the  church  do  in  its  orders  but  observe  the  general 
rules  laid  down  in  Scripture/ 

"  We  are  left  then,  and,  indeed,  unavoidably  led  to  the 
conclusion  that,  in  respect  of  these  points,  the  apostles  and 
their  followers  were,  during  the  age  of  inspiration,  supor- 
naturally  withheld  from  recording  these  circumstantial 
details,  which  were  not  intended  by  divine  Providen.ce  to  be 
absolutely  binding  on  all  churches,  in  every  age  and  country, 
but  were  meant  to  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  each  particu- 
lar church/'-j"  While  the  principles y  in  short,  are  clearly 
recognised  and  strongly  inculcated,  which  Christian  commu- 
nities and  individual  members  of  them  are  to  keep  in  mind 
and  act  upon,  with  a  view  to  the  great  objects  for  which 
these  communities  were  established,  the  precise  modes  in 
which  these  objects  are  in  each  case  to  be  promoted  are  left 
— one  can  hardly  doubt,  studiously  left — undefined/ 'J 

The  church  is  one,  then,  not  as  consisting  of  one 
society,  but  because  the  various  societies  or  churches  were 
then  modelled,  and  ought  still  to  be  so,  on  the  same  princi- 
ples; and  because  they  enjoy  common  privileges — one 
Lord,  one  Spirit,  one  baptism.  Accordingly,  the  Holy 
Ghost,  through  his  agents,  the  apostles,  has  not  left  any 
detailed  account  of  the  formation  of  any  Christian  society ; 
but  he  has  very  distinctly  marked  the  great  principles  on 
which  all  were  to  be  founded,  whatever  distinctions  may 
exist  among  them/^§  Negatively,  it  (church)  consisted 
not  in  a  uniformity  of  rites  and  customs ;  for  every  particu- 
lar church  was  at  liberty  to  follow  its  own  proper  usages ; 


*  Iren.  pp,  416,  417,  419,  422,  426-427. 

t  Whately's  Kingd.  of  Christ,  p.  88.  t  Ibid.  p.  90^ 

J  EncT/clopcedia  Metropolitana,  Age  of  Apostol.  Fathers,  p.  774. 


104 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


one  church  was  not  obliged  to  observe  the  rites  of  another, 
but  every  one  followed  its  own  peculiar  customs/^* 

It  seems  to  belong  to  the  very  essence  of  a  community 
that  it  should  have — 1st,  Officers  of  some  kind;  2dly, 
Rules  enforced  by  some  kind  of  penalties  3  and,  3dly,  some 
power  of  admitting  and  excluding  persons  as  memhers.^^'\ 
Again  :  Right  and  duti/  are  reciprocal  3  and  consequently, 
since  a  church  has  a  right  (derived,  as  has  been  shown,  both 
from  the  very  nature  of  a  community,  and  from  Christ's 
sanction)  to  make  regulations,  &c.,  not  at  variance  with 
Scripture  principles,  it  follows  that  compliance  with  such 
regulations  must  be  a  duty  to  the  individual  members  of 
that  church/'J  Again  :  Any  one  who  sanctions  a  society, 
gives,  in  so  doing,  his  sanction  to  those  essentials  of  a 
society,  its  government — its  officers — its  regulations.  Ac- 
cordingly, even  if  our  Lord  had  not  expressly  said  any  thing 
about  *  binding  and  loosing,'  still  the  very  circumstance  of 
his  sanctioning  a  Christian  community  would  necessarily 
have  implied  his  sanction  of  the  institution,  ministers,  and 
government  of  a  Christian  church,  so  long  as  nothing  is 
introduced  at  variance  with  the  positive  enactments  and  the 
fundamental  principles  laid  down  by  himself  and  his  apos- 
tles/'§  Again  :  "  The  universal  church — there  being  one, 
in  reference,  not  to  any  one  government  on  earth,  but  only 
to  our  Divine  Head,  even  Christ,  ruling  Christians  by  his 
Spirit — which  spoke  to  them  from  time  to  time  through  the 
apostles  while  these  were  living,  and  speaks  still  in  the 
words  of  the  Christian  Scriptures,  it  follows  that  each 
Christian  is  bound  (as  far  as  church  authority  extends)  to 
submit  to  the  ordinances  and  decisions,  not  repugnant  to 
Scripture,  of  the  particular  church  of  which  he  is  a  mem- 
ber/'ll 

"  As  all  governments  are  necessitated  to  make  use  of  laws, 


*  King's  Prim.  Church,  p.  142.  f  Whately's  Kingd.  of  Christ,  p.  63. 
:|:  Ibid.  p.  118.  I  Ibid.  p.  123.  jj  Ibid.  p.  148. 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  105 


and  other  political  means,  to  preserve  their  constitution,  so 
the  church  of  Christ,  which  has  a  certain  government  an- 
nexed to  it,  that  it  may  preserve  itself  from  ruin  and  con- 
fusion, has  certain  laws  and  orders  for  the  due  regulation 
of  her  members,  and  penalties  annexed  to  the  breaches 
thereof/^* 

Now  is  there  any  thing  in  the  nature  of  the  church  to 
guide  us,  as  to  what  are  ecclesiastical  offences  ?  Undoubt- 
edly there  is.  In  every  society  there  must  be  such  a  prin- 
ciple ;  and,  by  reference  to  it  in  each,  are  formed  laws  for 
the  government  of  each.  Every  society  recognises  peculiar 
offences,  arising  out  of,  and  depending  solely  on,  the  pecu- 
liar nature  of  the  society;  so  that  in  proportion  as  this  latter 
is  understood,  the  former  are  defined.  Again,  what  becomes 
a  crime,  because  violating  the  principle  of  one  society,  may 
be  none  in  another,  if,  namely,  it  does  not  interfere  with 
the  object  proposed  in  the  formation  and  preservation  of 
that  other  society.^'-j" 

8.  Such  was  the  power  exercised  by  Mr.  Wesley,  who 
originated  and  arranged  the  rules  and  regulations  he  saw 
required  to  govern  the  societies  committed  by  our  Lord  to 
his  care,  and  he  continued  to  exercise  this  power  till  his 
death ;  and  since  his  death,  the  same  power  has  been  exer- 
cised by  the  Wesleyan  preachers,  under  a  constitution 
adopted  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  case ;  and  the  same 
power  now  resides  in  the  General  Conferences  of  the  Method- 
ist Church  in  the  United  States.  In  the  Minutes  of 
several  conversations''  which  Mr.  Wesley  had  with  his 
preachers,  he  gives  an  account  of  the  origin  of  this  power 
with  him. 

^'  Q.  27.  What  power  is  this  which  you  exercise  over  both 
^  the  preachers  and  the  societies  ? 

A.  1  love  to  do  all  things  openly.    I  will  therefore  tell 


*  Lord  King's  Prim.  Church,  p.  105. 

f  Encyclopaedia  Metropolitana,  vol.  ii.  p.  744. 


106 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


you  all  I  know  of  the  matter,  taking  it  from  the  very  be- 
ginning. 

(1.)  In  November,  1738,  two  or  three  persons  who  de- 
sired ^to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,'  and  then  a  few 
more  came  to  me  in  London,  and  desired  me  to  advise  and 
pray  with  them.  I  said,  ^If  you  will  meet  me  on  Thursday 
night,  I  will  help  you  as  well  as  I  can.'  More  and  more 
then  desired  to  meet  with  them,  till  they  were  increased  to 
many  hundreds.  The  case  was  afterward  the  same  at  Bristol, 
Kingswood,  Newcastle,  and  many  other  parts  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland.  It  may  be  observed,  the  desire  was 
on  their  part,  not  mine.  My  desire  was  to  live  and  die  in 
retirement.  But  I  did  not  see  that  I  could  refuse  them  my 
help,  and  be  guiltless  before  God.  Here  commenced  my 
power;  namely,  a  power  to  appoint  when,  and  where,  and 
how  they  should  meet;  and  to  remove  those  whose  lives 
showed  that  they  had  not  a  desire  ^  to  flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come.'  And  this  power  remained  the  same,  whether 
the  people  meeting  together  were  twelve,  or  twelve  hundred, 
or  twelve  thousand. 

(2.)  In  a  few  days  some  of  them  said,  ^Sir,  we  will  not 
sit  under  you  fcr  nothing,  we  will  subscribe  quarterly.'  I 
said,  ^I  will  have  nothing;  for  I  want  nothing.  My  fellow- 
ship supplies  me  with  all  I  want.'  One  replied,  '  Nay,  but 
you  want  a  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds  to  pay  for  the  lease 
of  the  Foundry;  and  likewise  a  large  sum  of  money  to  put 
it  in  repair.'  On  this  consideration  I  suffered  them  to  sub- 
scribe. And  when  the  society  met,  I  asked,  '  Who  will 
take  the  trouble  of  receiving  this  money,  and  paying  it 
where  it  is  needful  V  One  said,  ^  I  will  do  it,  and  keep  the 
account  for  you.'  So  here  was  the  first  steward.  After- 
ward I  desired  one  or  two  more  to  help  me  as  stewards,  and, 
in  process  of  time,  a  greater  number.  Let  it  be  remarked, 
it  was  I  myself,  not  the  people,  who  chose  these  stewards, 
and  appointed  to  each  the  distinct  work  wherein  he  was  to 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  107 


help  me,  as  long  as  I  desired.  And  herein  I  began  to  ex- 
ercise another  sort  of  power;  namely,  that  of  appointing 
and  removing  stewards. 

(3.)  After  a  time,  a  young  man,  named  Thomas  Max- 
field,  came  and  desired  to  help  me  as  a  son  in  the  gospel. 
Soon  after  came  a  second,  Thomas  Richards ;  and  then  a 
third,  Thomas  Westell.  These  severally  desired  to  serve 
me  as  sons,  and  to  labor  when  and  where  I  should  direct. 
Observe  :  these  likewise  desired  me,  not  I  them.  But  I 
durst  not  refuse  their  assistance.  And  here  commenced  my 
power  to  appoint  each  of  these  when,  and  where,  and  how 
to  labor ;  that  is,  while  he  chose  to  continue  with  me.  For 
each  had  a  power  to  go  away  when  he  pleased ;  as  I  had 
also,  to  go  away  from  them,  or  any  of  them,  if  I  saw  suffi- 
cient cause.  The  case  continued  the  same  when  the  number 
of  preachers  increased.  I  had  just  the  same  power  still,  to 
appoint  when,  and  where,  and  how  each  should  help  me ; 
and  to  tell  any,  (if  I  saw  cause,)  '  I  do  not  desire  your  help 
any  longer.^  On  these  terms,  and  no  other,^  we  joined  at 
first — on  these  we  continue  joined.  But  they  do  me  no 
favor  in  being  directed  by  me.  It  is  true,  my  ^  reward  is 
with  the  Lord but  at  present  I  have  notJKng  from  it  but 
trouble  and  care ;  and  often  a  burden  I  scarce  know  how  to 
bear. 

(4.)  In  1744,  I  wrote  to  several  clergymen,  and  to  all 
who  then  served  me  as  sons  in  the  gospel,  desiring  them  to 
meet  me  in  London,  and  to  give  me  their  advice  concerning 
the  best  method  of  carrying  on  the  work  of  God.  And 
when  their  number  increased,  so  that  it  was  not  convenient 
to  invite  them  all,  for  several  years  I  wrote  to  those  with 
whom  I  desired  to  confer,  and  they  only  met  me  at  London, 
or  elsewhere ;  till  at  length  I  gave  a  general  permission, 
which  I  afterward  saw  cause  to  retract.  Observe  :  I  myself 
jsent  for  those  of  my  own  free  choice.  And  I  sent  for  them 
to  advise,  not  to  govern  me.    Neither  did  I  at  any  time 


108 


( 

OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


divest  myself  of  any  part  of  the  power  above  described, 
which  the  providence  of  God  had  cast  upon  me  without 
any  design  or  choice  of  mine. 

(5.)  What  is  that  power?  It  is  the  power  of  admitting 
into,  and  excluding  from,  the  societies  under  my  care  ]  of 
choosing  and  removing  stewards ;  of  receiving  or  not  re- 
ceiving helpers ;  of  appointing  them  when,  where,  and  how 
to  help  me,  and  of  desiring  any  of  them  to  confer  with  me 
when  I  see  good.  And  as  it  was  merely  in  obedience  to  the 
providence  of  God,  and  for  the  good  of  the  people,  that  I 
at  first  accepted  this  power,  which  I  never  sought,  so  it  is 
on  the  same  consideration,  not  for  profit,  honor,  or  pleasure, 
that  I  use  it  at  this  day. 

(6.)  But  ^several  gentlemen  are  ofi*ended  at  your  having 
so  much  power.'  I  did  not  seek  any  part  of  it.  But  when 
it  was  come  unawares,  not  daring  to  ^  bury  that  talent,'  I 
used  it  to  the  best  of  my  judgment.  Yet  I  never  was  fond 
of  it.  I  always  did,  and  do  now,  bear  it  as  my  burden ; — 
the  burden  which  God  lays  upon  me,  and  therefore  I  dare 
not  lay  it  down.  But  if  you  can  tell  me  any  one,  or  any 
five  men,  to  whom  I  may  transfer  this  burden,  who  will  do 
just  what  I  do  now,  I  will  heartily  thank  both  them  and 
you. 

(7.)  But  some  of  our  helpers  say,  ^  This  is  shackling  free- 
born  Englishmen  and  demand  a  free  conference ;  that  is, 
a  meeting  of  all  the  preachers,  wherein  all  things  shall  be 
determined  by  most  votes.  I  answer,  it  is  jpossible,  after 
my  death,  something  of  this  kind  may  take  place  ;^  but  not 
while  I  live.  To  me  the  preachers  have  engaged  themselves 
to  submit  to  serve  me  as  sons  in  the  gospel ;  but  they  are 
not  thus  engaged  to  any  man  or  number  of  men  beside. 
To  me  the  people  in  general  will  submit ;  but  they  will  not 


*  Precisely  the  thing  now  done  by  the  delegated  General  Conferences 
of  the  two  great  branches  of  the  Methodist  church  in  the  United  States. 


4 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 


109 


tlius  submit  to  any  other.  It  is  nonsense,  then,  to  call  my 
using  this  power,  ^  shackling  free-born  Englishmen/  None 
needs  to  submit  to  it  unless  he  will ;  so  that  there  is  no 
shackling  in  the  case.  Every  preacher  and  every  member 
may  leave  me  when  he  pleases.  But  while  he  chooses  to 
stay,  it  is  on  the  same  terms  that  he  joined  me  at  first. 

'But  this  is  making  yourself  a  pope.^  This  carries  no 
face  of  truth.  The  pope  affirms  that  every  Christian  must 
do  all  he  bids,  and  believe  all  he  says,  under  pain  of  dam- 
nation. I  never  affirmed  any  thing  that  bears  any  the  most 
distant  resemblance  to  this.  All  I  affirm  is,  the  preachers 
who  choose  to  labor  with  me,  choose  to  serve  me  as  sons  in 
the  gospel.  And  the  people  who  choose  to  be  under  my 
care,  choose  to  be  so  on  the  same  terms  they  were  at  first. 
Therefore,  all  talk  of  this  kind  is  highly  injurious  to  me, 
who  bear  the  burden  merely  for  your  sake.  And  it  is 
exceedingly  mischievous  to  the  people,  tending  to  confound 
their  understanding,  and  fill  their  hearts  with  evil  sur- 
misings  and  unkind  tempers  toward  me;  to  whom  they 
really  owe  more  for  taking  all  this  load  upon  me,  for  exer- 
cising this  very  power,  for  shackling  myself  in  this  manner, 
than  for  all  my  preaching  put  together,  because  preaching 
twice  or  thrice  a  day  is  no  burden  to  me  at  all ;  but  the 
care  of  all  the  preachers  and  all  the  people  is  a  burden 
indeed. '^"^ 

9.  While  the  General  Conference,  as  we  have  said,  can- 
not assume  legislative  authority,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
term,  it  has,  in  the  nature  of  things,  power  to  make  such 
prudential  rules  and  regulations  as  shall  be  found  necessary 
to  enforce  the  laws  of  Christ,  already  enacted  by  him,  the 
supreme  Legislator.  The  rule  on  the  subject  of  the  classes 
was  not  enacted  by  the  G-eneral  Conference ;  it  originated 
with  Mr.  Wesley  in  the  government  of  the  societies  which 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  v.  pp.  219-222. 
10 


110 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


he  formed  in  the  church  of  England;  before  there  was  a 
single  Methodist  in  the  United  States.  The  General  Con- 
ference found  this  rule  existing,  and  they  would  have 
destroyed  the  Methodist  Church  had  they  abolished  it ;  and, 
therefore,  every  person  who  joins  the  Methodist  Church 
voluntarily  assumes  obligation  to  observe  this  regulation,  and 
he  is  morally  bound  to  do  so.  For  every  evangelical  church 
has  an  essential  heing  of  its  own,  and  hence  there  must  be 
offices  of  authority,  and  some  placed  in  authority,  who  shall 
govern  the  church.  The  recognition  of  offices  and  officers 
also  evidently  implies  submission  of  the  members  to  the 
rules  and  regulations  which  those  in  authority  may  see 
proper  to  adopt  for  their  government.  No  society  can  exist 
without  rules  of  some  kind,  and  the  adequate  means  of 
enforcing  obedience  to  them.  Consequently,  the  very  con- 
stitution of  the  church  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  implies 
that  rules  should  be  established,  and  the  proper  means  pro- 
vided, to  -enforce  them — always  in  accordance  with  the 
written  word  of  God.  But  how  are  we  to  know  what  kind 
of  government  was  intended  by  Christ  and  his  apostles? 
The  nature  of  the  church  itself  suggests  what  are  moral 
offences;  and  if  the  church  be  truly  evangelical,  offences 
may  be  clearly  determined  by  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the 
Eible.  And  as  the  church  has  the  authority  to  make  rules 
and  regulations  for  its  own  government  not  inconsistent 
with  the  Bible,  and  as  authority  and  duty  are  reciprocal, 
it  follows  that  compliance  with  such  regulations  must  be  a 
solemn  duty. 

All  authority  is  given  for  the  work  of  government. 
Authority  is  given  to  the  ministry  for  the  performance  of 
their  work ;  that  is,  a  power  to  do  their  duty,  and  their 
work  is  to  do  the  people  good ;  and,  therefore,  their  power 
is  but  authority  to  do  the  people  good.  The  ministry  are 
invested,  as  before  stated,  with  authority  to  preach  the 
Word,  administer  the  sacraments,  and  church  discipline. 


m 


ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  Ill 

•  that  the  J  may  do  the  people  good ;  and,  therefore,  if  the 
people  resist  this  authority,  they  place  it  out  of  the  power  of 
the  ministry  to  do  them  good  by  preaching  the  Word, 
administering  the  sacraments,  and  exercising  church  disci- 
pline. And,  upon  the  principles  on  which  we  have  esta- 
blished the  authority  of  the  ministry  to  make  prudential 
regulations  for  the  government  of  the  church,  it  is  as  much 
the  duty  of  Methodists  to  attend  class  meetings,  as  it  is  to 
come  to  the  church  to  hear  a  sermon  or  receive  the  sacra- 
ment. 

Some  may  object  to  this  Methodistic  mode  of  Christian 
communion,  and  urge  that  they  are  not  under  obligation  to 
observe  it,  because  it  is  not  specified  in  the  Scriptures. 
From  the  preceding  argument,  we  reply,  modes  are  binding 
on  the  church  when  they  are  ordained  by  the  proper  author- 
ities in  the  church,  provided  they  be  not  inconsistent  with 
the  word  of  God  and  the  plain  dictates  of  reason;  and 
hence,  until  the  institution  of  the  classes  be  abrogated,  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  Methodist  to  attend  them.  Private 
members  have  no  right  to  substitute  any  other  mode  of 
Christian  communion  for  this;  nor  have  the  preachers 
themselves  such  a  right,  except  in  a  legislative  capacity. 


4 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS  FOUNDED  UPON 
THEIR  ESSENTIAL  RELATION  TO  THE  ITINERANT  MINIS- 
TRY OF  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

We  shall,  in  the  first  place,  consider  the '  nature  of  an 
itinerant  ministry,  and  its  advantages  over  a  settled  ministry^ 
and,  secondly,  show  the  essential  relation  of  our  class- 
meeting  system  to  our  itinerancy. 

The  great  distinguishing  and  prominent  peculiarity  of  the 
Methodist  ministry  is  its  itinerant  nature,  a  kind  of  minis- 
try which  conforms  most  strictly  to  the  Bible,  and  so  has 
advantages  for  doing  the  greatest  amount  of  good,  both  to 
its  own  churches  and  the  world  at  large.  It  is  the  most 
efficient  system  of  ministry  in  the  world  to  secure  the  great 
objects  of  preaching.  Christ  himself  was  the  great  Itine- 
rant— He  went  about  doing  good.''  Before  his  death,  he 
commanded  his  disciples,  ye  go,  preach  and,  after 
his  death,  he  commanded  them  to  Go  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  his  gospel  to  every  creature.''  And  all  the 
apostles  were  itinerant  preachers.  Such  is  the  character  of 
the  Methodist  ministry,  and  such  a  ministry  must  be 
founded  upon  many  and  strong  reasons,  some  of  which  we 
shall  now  mention  : 

1.  It  is  adapted  to  the  different  constitutions  of  men, 
intellectual  and  moral.  Argumentative  preaching  is  suita- 
ble to  logical  minds ;  plain,  pointed,  practical  preaching  is 
suitable  to  others,  who  never  stop  to  reason  about  the  great 
truths  of  the  Bible  :  some  are  convinced  by  the  logic  of 
Paul ;  some  are  roused  by  the  thunders  of  Peter ;  some  are 
112 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS.     ,  113 


charmed  by  the  eloquence  of  Apollos;  some  are  subdued 
by  the  tender,  sympathetic  strains  of  John;  others  by  the 
pathetic,  flowing  style  of  Barnabas;  and  as  preachers  are 
but  men,  our  Lord  chooses  his  ministers  of  every  consti- 
tutional peculiarity,  every  taste,  every  sort  of  gifts,  and 
every  grade  of  talent,  adapted  to  every  sort  of  mind  in  the 
world.  Thus,  as  every  congregation  is  made  up  more  or 
less  of  all  these  varieties,  an  itinerant  ministry,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  supplies  the  wants  of  all ;  believers 
of  every  class  are  benefited,  and  sinners  of  every  sort 
gathered  into  the  church.  Rarely,  if  ever,  does  a  minister 
possess  all  these  gifts  in  himself :  no  apostle  possessed  them 
all  in  himself :  none  but  Christ  combined  them  all  in  him- 
self. An  itinerant  ministry,  therefore,  is  a  provision  for 
the  distribution  of  every  order  of  gifts  and  talents  which 
the  wants  of  the  church  and  the  world  require. 

2.  It  is  best  adapted  to  frequent  and  powerful  revivals. 
It  is  a  fact  of  history,  that  the  most  frequent  and  extensive 
revivals  have  occurred  under  the  preaching  of  itinerant 
ministers.  Even  among  the  settled  ministry  of  other 
churches,  the  greater  proportion  of  revivals  occur  under  the 
labors  of  what  are  called  evangelists,^^  who  are  indeed 
itinerant  preachers ;  and  in  these  churches,  often  when  a 
change  of  ministers  takes  place,  they  are  blessed  with 
revival ;  and  the  inference  is  clear,  if  changes  were  more 
frequent  among  them, — that  is,  a  nearer  approximation  were 
made  to  the  Methodistic  plan, — revivals  would  be  more  fre- 
quent among  them ;  but  now,  it  seldom  happens  that  more 
than  one  revival  of  much  power  or  extent  occurs  in  the 
same  church,  except  when  the  pastor  is  assisted  by  foreign 
aid,  which  is,  in  fact,  an  argument  for  the  itinerancy. 
Where  a  minister  is  settled  for  an  indefinite  number  of 
years,  it  is  evident  he  can  exert  a  controlling  and  beneficial 
influence  only  over  those  of  his  congregation  to  whom  his 
.  preaching  is  specially  adapted,  and  the  rest  must  be  co'^ 

10* 


114 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


paratively  unprofited,  atid,  it  may  be,  soon  become  indiffer- 
ent, if  not  dissatisfied ;  for  it  is  impossible  for  any  preacher 
to  please  everybody;  and,  ordinarily,  a  suitable  change 
must  be  made,  or  discord,  division,  and  declension  will 
inevitably  follow.  Some  men  are  revivalists,  who  flash 
conviction  upon  the  understanding,  and  allure  the  affections; 
but  these  ordinarily  are  not  the  men  who,  like  the  logical 
Paul^  analyze  error,  defend  the  great  doctrines  and  institu- 
tions of  the  Bible,  and  expose  the  heresies  and  sophistries 
of  the  enemies  of  Christianity ;  the  latter,  the  logical,  are 
required  by  the  church  to  confirm  and  establish  the  labors 
of  the  former,  the  revivalists;  and  the  latter  are  required 
to  prepare  the  experimental  groundwork  of  the  church  for 
the  ministrations  of  the  former  :  neither  class  can  be  dis- 
pensed with,  and  both  should  be  wisely  and  constantly  dis- 
tributed, which  cannot  be  done  unless  the  itinerant  plan  be 
adopted  and  impartially  applied. 

3.  It  is  best  adapted  to  the  preservation  of  the  purity  and 
piety  of  the  church.  The  labor,  hardship,  sacrifices,  and  fre- 
quent changes  of  an  itinerant  ministry  are  safeguards  against 
the  temptations  to  ease,  idleness,  affluence,  and  worldly  fame 
to  which  a  settled  ministry  are  more  directly  exposed.  The 
sojourn  of  an  itinerant  minister  in  one  field  of  labor  is  so 
brief,  that  there  is  no  inducement  to  him  to  form  local 
associations,  to  enter  upon  permanent  local  enterprises,  to 
originate  or  associate  himself  with  parties,  to  foster  pride,  or 
confine  his  labors  to  a  particular  community.  The  itine- 
rancy represses  in  the  preachers  the  impulsion  of  worldly 
affections ;  requires  the  subordination  of  local  prejudices  and 
interests  to  the  general  good;  subdues  many  jealousies  and 
heart-burnings  before  they  can  assume  a  permanent  and 
obstinate  form ;  and  quenches  the  fires  of  contention  before 
they  can  disturb  that  reciprocal  affection  which  should  exist 
between  the  preachers  and  the  people.  It  is  a  dangerous 
invasion  of  our  itinerant  plan,  whenever  a  minister  is  con-. 


ON  THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  ITINERANCY.  115 


fined  wholly  to  the  best  stations  and  circuits^  or  so  localizes 
himself  in  secular  arrangements  and  pursuits  as  to  render  it 
inconvenient,  if  not  impossible,  to  assign  him  work  where 
he  is  most  needed  :  every  preacher  in  the  Methodist  itine- 
rancy should  suppress,  with  unyielding  firmness  and  invin- 
cible fortitude,  the  least  disinclination  to  hardship  and 
sacrifice  involved  in  the  work  which  may  be  impartially  and 
wisely  assigned  him.  If  the  purity  and  piety  of  the  church 
can  be  preserved,  and  its  prosperity  promoted,  in  the  best 
manner  possible,  by  an  itinerant  ministry,  surely  the  whole 
church  should  have  a  share  in  the  best  talents  of  the  minis- 
try. As  these  are  the  only  legitimate  objects  of  the  minis- 
try, especially  an  itinerant  ministry,  he  has  a  very  imperfect 
idea  of  his  ministerial  responsibility  who  considers  himself 
degraded,  or  his  dignity  and  talents  disparaged,  or  feels 
aggrieved,  by  an  appointment  to  a  poor  and  humble  field  of 
labor.  Disguise  as  we  may,  however,  it  is  hard  sometimes 
for  flesh  and  blood  to  submit  without  complaining  to  such  an 
appointment;  and  it  must  be  conceded,  also,  that,  occasion- 
ally, though  not  often,  an  appointment  of  this  nature  is 
injudiciously  made;  but,  even  in  this  case,  ^tribulation 
worketh  patience,  and  patience  experience ,  and  experience 
hopeJ'  And  so  no  particular  church  should  endeavor  to 
monopolize  the  best  talents  in  the  ministry  to  its  use,  or 
feel  neglected  when  men  of  inferior  intellectual  abilities  are 
assigned  to  its  oversight.  Indeed,  it  is  an  axiom  of  the 
itinerancy,  if  the  best  ministers  be  kept  all  the  time  upon 
the  best  stations  and  circuits,  and  men  of  the  humblest 
abilities  upon  the  poorest  circuits  and  stations,  progress  will 
be  comparatively  slow  throughout  the  whole  bounds  of  the 
church  and  ministry,  and  a  general  declension  in  spirituality 
will  inevitably  follow,  because  such  an  arrangement  is  a 
violation  of  some  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  an  itine- 
rant ministry.  The  poorer  fields  of  labor  will  be  hereby 
•deprived  of  the  best  talents  of  the  ministry,  and  the  richer 


116 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


fields,  overlooking  the  wants  of  the  poorer  classes,  will  sub- 
stitute a  splendid  ministry  and  an  imposing  formality  for 
simplicity  and  spirituality ;  and  it  is  easy  to  see  how  such 
a  ministry  may,  in  time,  yield  insensibly  to  the  insidious 
evil.  And  as  to  the  ministers  of  humble  abilities,  nearly  all 
hope  of  elevation  is  cut  off  effectually  from  them,  by  pre- 
cluding opportunities  to  unfold  and  cultivate  to  much  extent 
whatever  of  dormant  talent  or  native  power  they  may  pos- 
sess. No  doubt  there  are  many  ministers  in  the  background 
now,  who,  under  more  favorable  circumstances,  might  have 
taken  their  position  in  the  front  ranks,  and  might  this  day 
be  conspicuous  leaders  of  our  hosts,  and  able  defenders  of 
doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  Methodism,  but  who  must  now 
be  content  to  spend  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  humble 
but  honorable  and  useful  toil,  while  many  a  popular  minister 
will  spend  his  days  in  the  larger  stations,  substantially  to 
but  little  purpose,  who  might,  in  strict  harmony  with  the 
itinerancy,  have  crowded  his  life  with  incalculable  and  varied 
usefulness  to  the  church. 

4.  It  is  best  adapted  to  the  preservation  of  a  faithful 
ministry.  Not  dependent  upon  the  people  for  a  "  call,^' 
knowing  that  his  sojourn  in  any  one  place  can  be  but  for  a 
definite  and  brief  period,  and  that  his  salary  is  defined  by 
the  constitution  of  his  church,  the  Methodist  itinerant 
preacher  is  defended  against  the  temptation  to  preach  to 
please  the  people,  and  is  enabled  to  speak  the  truth  boldly 
and  fearlessly,  and  do  all  the  work  of  his  ministry  faithfully, 
without  the  fear  of  offending  any,  in  or  out  of  the  church. 
Indeed,  he  knows  the  more  faithful  he  is  in  the  discharge 
of  all  his  duties,  and  the  more  strictly  he  conforms  to  the 
requirements  of  the  itinerancy,  the  more  he  will  be  respected 
by  the  delinquent  and  disobedient,  the  more  he  will  be  be- 
loved by  the  faithful  portion  of  the  church,  the  more  cor- 
dially he  will  be  welcomed  by  new  fields  of  labor,  the  more 
he  will  be  admired  by  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  the 


ON  THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  ITINERANCY.  117 


more  rapidly  he  will  promote  both  his  own  spirituality  and 
that  of  his  charges^  and  the  more  certainly  he  will  obtain  a 
temporal  support.  But,  where  the  selection  of  pastors,  and 
the  time  of  pastoral  oversight  depend  upon  the  will  of  the 
people,*  how  difficult  must  it  be  for  the  pastor  to  be  faithful 
in  all  respects  !  Intrepid  truly  must  he  be,  who,  every 
moment  exposed  to  the  caprice  of  the  people,  and  threatened 
with  dismission,  yet  fearlessly  discharges  all  the  business  of 
his  solemn  and  responsible  office.  Rare,  indeed,  are  sucli 
examples  in  a  settled  ministry.  And  this  may  be  some  ex- 
planation of  the  painful  neglect  of  the  administration  of 
discipline  in  many  churches  under  the  care  of  a  settled 
ministry.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  however,  that  even  under  our 
own  itinerant  ministry,  in  many  places,  the  administration  of 
discipline  is  lamentably  neglected,  and  the  ambition  to  please 
the  people  predominates  over  the  desire  to  do  them  good  : 
which  is  but  another  proof  that  the  best  system  of  church- 
government  is  not  sufficient  of  itself  to  preserve  a  faithful 
ministry,  and  accomplish  all  the  ends  of  preaching.  Never- 
theless, the  advantages  of  our  itinerant  plan  are  obvious, 
and  the  path  to  success  is  plain,  open,  and  unembarrassed. 

5.  It  is  best  adapted  to  the  wants  of  feeble  societies  and 
destitute  portions  of  the  work.  Thus,  many  feeble  societies 
are  associated  with  a  few  strong  ones,  and  formed  into  a 


*  "  It  is  well  known,  that  the  itinerant  plan  of  preaching  has  always 
been  considered  as  a  fundamental  principle  in  the  economy  of  Method- 
ism. It  has  been  owned  and  blessed  of  God  in  a  most  remarkable 
manner.  Originating  with  Christ  and  his  apostles,  it  has  been  proved  to 
be  the  most  efficacious  means  for  propagating  the  gospel  that,  under 
God,  has  ever  blessed  the  world  from  the  commencement  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  to  the  present  hour.  To  preserve  this  plan  from  violation,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  stationing  of  the  preachers  must  ultimately  rest  with 
the  preachers  themselves.  For  if  the  people  have  a  right  to  dictate  or 
appoint,  all  will  choose  men  of  superior  talents ;  all  will  reject  those  of 
weak  ones ;  contending  parties  will  instantly  be  formed ;  and  the  whole 
connection  will  degenerate  into  factic^is." — Drew's  Life  of  Coke,  p.  44. 


118 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


circuit,  and  a  preacher  is  appointed  to  the  oversight  of  all ; 
and  he  is  required  to  give  all  the  societies  equal  attention, 
though  he  obtains  his  support  mainly  from  the  strong  and 
wealthy  classes,  while  the  feeble  ones  contribute  scarcely 
any  thing,  and  often  nothing  at  all.  Soon  the  feeble  socie- 
ties are  blessed  with  revivals,  and  become  strong ;  and  now 
the  circuit  may  be  divided,  and  new  circuits  be  formed,  and 
so  the  general  work  be  enlarged.  And  so,  also,  places  wholly 
destitute  may  be  supplied  with  preaching,  and  new  societies 
soon  organized,  and  new  circuits,  like  magic,  spring  into 
being.  Thus  Methodism  supplies  the  interior  intervals, 
expands  with  the  frontiers  of  civilization,  and  is  capable, 
we  believe,  of  banding  the  world  with  the  bonds  of  the 
gospel.  The  usual  stationary  ministry  waits  for  the  call 
of  the  people,  while  the  Methodist  ministry  goes  forth  to 
call  the  people.^'  Why  ?  Because  the  great  mass  of  man- 
kind are  too  poor  to  call  and  support  the  ministry ;  and  it 
is  one  of  the  chief  glories  of  Methodism,  that  through  her 
ministry  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to  themJ^ 
The  poor,  when  converted,  in  time  become  rich,  and  thus 
send  the  gospel  to  other  poor;  and  so  Methodism  is  practi- 
cally self-supporting,  and  contains  in  itself  the  elements  of 
reproduction  and  propagation  corresponding  to  the  wants  of 
the  human  race.  Like  the  famous  banian-tree  of  the  East — 

Such  as  at  this  day  to  Indians  known, 
In  Malabar,  or  Deccan,  spreads  her  arms, 
Branching  so  broad  and  long,  that  in  the  ground 
The  bending  twigs  take  root,  and  daughters  grow 
About  the  mother-tree,  a  pillar'd  shade 
High  overarched." 

The  itinerancy  is  the  cheapest,  as  well  as  the  most  efficient, 
method  of  preaching  the  gospel  among  men.  It  is  a  divine 
method,  best  adapted  to  supplying  the  whole  church  and  the 
world  with  pastoral  care.  We  would  not  have  the  pastoral 
relation  permanent^  because  fehen,  as  in  other  churches,  many 


ON  THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  ITINERANCY.  119 


fields  of  labor  would  often  be  left  ^'destitute;''  on  the  con- 
trary, now  a  Methodist  church  is  never  without  a  pastor,  nor 
a  Methodist  pastor  without  a  charge ;  and  in  case  of  death, 
or  suspension,  or  failure  to  accept  the  work  allotted,  the 
vacancy  is  soon  supplied.  Go  where  he  will  in  this  world, 
in  which  mankind  have  been  jostling  one  another  about 
since  creation,  he  will  find  those  who  will  simultaneously 
recognise  the  truth  and  authority  of  his  faithful  ministra- 
tions. He  will  find  the  same  sweet  moon,  the  same  glorious 
sun,  the  same  bright  stars,  the  same  ambient  atmosphere, 
the  same  refreshing  waters,  the  same  God  and  Governor,  and 
the  same  great  work  to  do.  When  asked,  where  is  his 
country,  like  Anaxagoras,  let  him  point  his  finger  to  the 
heavens,  and  tell  the  people  he  has  come  to  establish  the 
kingdom  of  God  among  them.  Let  him  point  to  the  king- 
doms founded  and  victories  achieved  by  their  great,  men  and 
tell  them,  he  has  come  to  found  a  greater  kingdom  among 
them,  and  to  lead  them  to  greater  victories  over  themselves, 
the  world,  and  death,  and  hell. 

Secondly,  the  essential  relation  of  the  classes  to  the  pastoral 
care  of  the  Methodist  ministry,  which  is  itinerant.  Volun- 
tary and  habitual  neglect  of  class  meeting  is  a  virtual,  though 
not  a  formal,  withdrawal  from  the  pastoral  care  of  this 
ministry.  It  is  a  quiet  way  to  withdraw  from  the  Method- 
ist Church.  Every  class  is  an  integral  part  of  our  church, 
which  is  made  up  of  classes ;  and  to  neglect  class  altogether 
is  to  withdraw,  at  least  in  part,  from  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
Methodist  ministry — as  much  so  as  if  there  were  but  one 
class  of  Methodists  in  the  world,  and  any  one  of  its  mem- 
bers should  never  meet  with  that  class.  From  a  sense  of 
duty,  and  with  a  view  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  this  church, 
whenever  any  one  joins  it,  he  solemnly  and  formally  pledges 
himself  to  meet,  when  it  is  practicable,  with  the  class  to 
which  he  is  attached ;  and  not  to  meet,  is  not  only  to  violate 
his  obligation,  but  voluntarily  to  waive  the  privileges  of  the 


120 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


class  meeting.  It  is  more  than  this :  it  is  to  forfeit  his 
right  to  all  other  privileges  of  association  with  this  church, 
such  as  the  sacrament,  the  love-feast,  and  pastoral  oversight, 
as  we  shall  now  endeavor  to  show. 

We  have  said  that  the  Methodist  Church  is  made  up  of 
classes,  and  to  belong  to  one  of  the  classes  is  to  belong  to 
this  church ;  and  if  there  were  but  one  class  of  the  kind  in 
the  world,  that  class  would  be  the  Methodist  Church,  and 
to  join  that  class  would  be  to  join  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  to  leave  that  class  would  be  to  leave  the  Methodist 
Church.  A  consideration  of  the  origin  of  the  classes  will 
prove  this.  The  origin  of  the  classes  is  thus  related  by  Mr. 
Wesley.  When  Mr.  Wesley  and  his  brother  Charles,  amid 
the  surrounding  darkness,*  began  to  preach  true  Christianity, 


The  state  of  religion  in  England,  when  Mr.  Wesley  commenced  his 
laborious  and  glorious  ministry,  was  deplorable  in  the  extreme.  "  The 
great  majority  of  the  lower  classes  were  ignorant  of  the  art  of  reading, 
and  in  many  places  were  semi-barbarous  in  their  manners.  A  lifeless 
formality,  a  haughty  dislike  of  the  spiritualities  of  religion,  or  a  sneer- 
ing contempt  of  them,  and  a  flood  of  licentiousness  and  impiety  had 
swept  away  almost  every  barrier  that  had  been  raised  in  the  public  mind 
by  the  labors  of  former  ages.  Infidelity  began  its  ravages  upon  the 
principles  of  the  higher  and  middle  classes;  the  mass  of  the  people  re- 
mained uneducated,  and  were  Christians  but  in  name  and  by  virtue  of 
their  baptism ;  while  many  of  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Reformation 
were  banished  both  from  the  universities  and  the  pulpits.  Archbishop 
Leighton  complains  that  his  *  church  was  a  fair  carcass  without  a  spirit 
and  Burnet  observes,  that  in  his  time  *the  clergy  had  less  authority,  and 
were  more  in  contempt,  than  those  of  any  church  in  Europe ;  for  they 
were  much  the  most  remiss  in  their  labors,  and  the  less  severe  in  their 
lives.*  Though  in  the  English  church  there  were  men  unsurpassed  in 
erudition,  in  eloquence,  or  in  strength  and  subtlety  of  mind,  yet  they 
reduced  her  liturgy,  her  articles,  and  her  homilies  to  a  dead  form,  which 
was  repeated  without  thought,  or  so  explained  as  to  take  away  their 
meaning ;  and  a  great  proportion  of  the  clergy,  whatever  learning  they 
might  possess,  were  grossly  ignorant  of  theology,  and  contented  them- 
selves with  reading  short,  unmeaning  sermons,  purchased  or  pilfered,  and 
formed  upon  the  lifeless  theological  system  of  the  day.    The  prevalent 


ON  THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  ITINERANCY. 


121 


and  many  were  awakened^  otlQj  and  another,  and  another 
came  to  us/^  says  he,  asking  what  they  should  do,  being- 
distressed  on  every  side  ]  as  every  one  strove  to  weaken,  and 
none  to  strengthen  their  hands  in  God,  we  advised  them, 
^  Strengthen  you  one  another/  Talk  together  as  often  as 
you  can,  and  pray  earnestly  with  and  for  one  another,  that 
you  may  ^  endure  unto  the  end,  and  be  saved/  Against 
this  advice  we  presumed  there  could  be  no  objection,  as 
being  grounded  on  the  plainest  reason,  and  in  so  many 
scriptures,  both  of  the  Old  Testament  and  New,  that  it 
would  be  tedious  to  recite  them.  They  said,  ^  But  we  want 
you  likewise  to  talk  with  us  often,  to  direct  and  quicken  us 
in  our  way,  to  give  us  the  advices  which  you  well  know  we 
need,  and  to  pray  with  us  as  well  as  for  us.'  I  asked, 
Which  of  you  desire  this  ?  Let  me  know  your  names  and 
places  of  abode.  They  did  so.  But  I  soon  found  they 
were  too  many  for  me  to  talk  with  severally  so  often  as  they 
wanted  it.  So  I  told  them,  ^  If  you  will  all  of  you  come 
together  every  Thursday,  in  the  evening,  I  will  gladly  spend 


divinity  was  Pelagian,  or  what  very  nearly  approached  it.  Natural  reli- 
gion was  the  great  subject  of  study,  when  theology  was  studied  at  all, 
and  was  made  the  standard  of  re-\^aled  truth.  The  doctrine  of  the  opus 
operatum  of  the  papists,  as  to  sacraments,  was  the  faith  of  the  divines 
of  the  older  school ;  and  a  refined  system  of  ethics,  unconnected  with 
Christian  motives,  and  disjoined  from  the  vital  principles  of  religion  in 
the  heart,  was  the  favorite  theory  of  the  modern.  The  body  of  the 
clergy  neither  knew  nor  cared  about  systems  of  any  kind.  In  a  greater 
number  of  instances  they  were  negligent  and  immoral,  often  grossly  so. 
The  populace  in  the  large  towns  were  ignorant  and  profligate ;  and  the 
inhabitants  of  villages  added  to  ignorance  and  profligacy  brutish  and 
barbarous  manners.  A  more  striking  instance  of  the  rapid  deterioration 
of  religious  light  and  influence  in  a  country  scarcely  occurs  than  in  our 
own,  from  the  Restoration  till  the  rise  of  Methodism.  There  were  indeed 
many  happy  exceptions ;  but  this  was  the  general  state  of  religion  and 
inorals  in  the  country,  when  the  W(*sleys,  Whitefield,  and  a  few  hundred 
spirits  came  forth,  ready  to  sacrifice  ease,  reputation,  and  even  life  itself, 
te  produce  a  reformation."  This  dark  picture  of  the  times  is  drawn  by 
Mr.  Richard  Watson,,  in  his  Life  of  Wesley,  pp.  59,  62. 

11 


122 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


some  time  with  you  in  prayer^  and  give  you  the  best  advice 
I  can/  Thus  arose^  without  any  previous  design  on  either 
side^  what  was  afterward  called  a  society ;  a  very  innocent 
name,  and  very  common  in  London,  for  any  number  of  peo- 
ple associating  themselves  together.  The  thing  proposed  in 
their  associating  themselves  together  was  very  obvious  to 
every  one.  They  wanted  to  ^  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come/ 
and  to  assist  each  other  in  so  doing.  They  therefore  united 
themselves  ^  in  order  to  pray  together,  to  receive  the  word 
of  exhortation,  and  to  watch  over  one  another  in  love,  that 
they  might  help  each  other  to  work  out  their  salvation.' 
Upon  reflection,  I  could  not  but  observe.  This  is  the 
very  thing  which  was  from  the  beginning  of  Christianity. 
In  the  earliest  times,  those  whom  God  had  sent  forth 
^preached  the  gospel  to  every  creature.'  And  the  oi 
ahroataiy  '  the  body  of  hearers,'  were  mostly  either  Jews 
or  heathens.  But  as  soon  as  any  of  these  were  so  convinced 
of  the  truth  as  to  forsake  sin  and  seek  the  gospel  salvation, 
they  immediately  joined  them  together,  took  an  account  of 
their  names,  advised  them  to  watch  over  each  other,  and 
met  these  catechoumenoi,  ^  catechumens,'  (as  they  were  then 
called,)  apart  from  the  great  congregation,  that  they  might 
instruct,  rebuke,  exhort,  and  pray  with  them  and  for  them, 
according  to  their  several  necessities."* 

Here  is  the  history  of  the  origin  of  societies  in  the 
Methodist  Church,  or  rather  the  origin  of  the  Methodist 
Church  itself ;  and  these  societies  are  founded  upon  the 
plainest  reason,  Scripture,  and  the  practice  of  the  apostles 
and  primitive  teachers  of  the  gospel.  We  have  seen,  that 
persons  awakened  and  converted  under  the  preaching  of 
Mr.  Wesley  and  his  brother,  voluntarily  placed  themselves 
under  their  pastoral  charge,  and  were  associated  in  societies, 
under  certain  specific  rules  and  regulations,  and  with  objects 


-^^  Wesley*s  Works,  vol.  v.  pp.  177, 178. 


ON  THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  ITINERANCY. 


123 


wholly  religious.  But  we  have  also  seen^  in  another  part 
of  this  treatise,  that  because  of  the  itinerant  nature  of  the 
Wesleyan  ministry,  the  societies  could  not  receive  the  pas- 
toral care  they  required,  and  that  therefore  the  societies  were 
divided  into  smaller  companies,  called  classes,  which  were 
placed  under  the  charge  of  leaders,  selected  and  appointed 
by  Mr.  Wesley  to  aid  hjm  in  his  pastoral  work.  Conse- 
quently, the  classes  were  but  integral  parts  of  the  societies  , 
or  churches  founded  and  organized  by  Mr.  Wesley  and  the 
Wesleyan  preachers;  and  to  withdraw  from  these  classes, 
that  is,  to  fail  .to  meet  with  them,  was  to  withdraw  from  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  Methodist  ministry  and  the  care  of  the 
leaders,  and  so  to  forfeit  all  right  to  all  the  privileges  of  the 
Methodist  Church.  This  is  precisely  the  case  with  all  pro- 
bationers and  members  of  the  JMethodist  Church  in  the 
present  day,  and  must  continue  to  be  so  as  long  as  the 
present  system  of  the  class  meetings  is  retained  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Methodist  Church.  And  until  the  system 
can  be  proved  to  be  irrational  and  unscriptural,  obligation 
to  attend  class,  as  far  as  practicable,  must  remain  in  full 
and  original  force  upon  all  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church.  This  obligation  is  solemnly  assumed  by  Method- 
istSy  and  no  one  can  wilfully  and  habitually  violate  it  without 
ceasing  to  be  Methodists.  It  is  a  specific  form  of  obliga- 
tion, voluntarily  assumed,  and  no  one  who  has  so  assumed 
it  can  violate  it  without  losing  the  specific  character  of  a 
Methodist. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  no  one  can  be  a  Christian  without 
meeting  in  class,  for  there  are  many  exemplary  Christians 
in  other  churches  who  never  met  in  class ;  but  it  is  assumed, 
that  no  one  can  be  a  Methodist  without  attending  to  this 
essential  institution  of  our  church.  And  it  is  very  ques- 
tionable, from  the  nature  and  objects  of  class  meeting, 
whether  any  member  of  our  church,  who  is  in  the  wilful 
and  repeated  neglect  of  his  class,  can,  in  the  proper  sense, 


124 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


continue  long  a  Christian.  He  may  have  the  form  of  god- 
liness in  other  respects^  and  may  be  sound  in  his  views  of 
our  theological  doctrines^  and  be  an  advocate  of  our  usages 
in  all  other  respects,  but  yet  he  manifests  a  destitution  of 
those  religious  desires  and  that  spiritual  character  which 
the  class  meeting  was  originally  created  to  improve  and  ma- 
ture. Upon  a  fair  and  impartial  investigation,,  this  remark 
will  be  found  to  be  true  without  scarcely  an  exception.  Nor 
is  it  doubted  that  an  exalted  morality,  a  charming  amia- 
bility of  disposition,  an  attractive  loveliness  of  character, 
a  blandness  of  manners,  a  sterling  integrity,  and  every 
natural  virtue,  in  social,  public,  and  private  life,  and  even  a 
semblance  of  piety,  may  be  displayed  without  ever  meeting 
in  class ;  but  that  any  member  of  the  Methodist  Church 
can  wilfully  and  habitually,  that  is,  without  good  and  suffi- 
cient reasons,  fail  to  observe  this  means  of  grace,  and  yet 
know  any  thing  of  real  and  permanent  spiritual  life,  or  be 
sensible  of  the  presence  or  the  progress  of  real  godliness,  is 
very  questionable.  The  best  evidence  is  wanting — that 
which  in  Methodism  not  only  evinces  a  truly  spiritual  nature, 
but  is  designed  to  regulate,  advance,  and  perfect  that  nature. 
Nor  is  it  pretended  that  no  one  can  be  truly  awakened  and 
deeply  serious  without  attending  to  this  means  of  grace, 
for  many  are  so,  and  obtain  religion  in  other  churches;  but 
it  is  assumed,  that  none  such,  who  are  probationers  in  our 
church,  and,  as  above,  neglect  the  class  meeting,  can  long 
remain  serious,  or  fail  soon  to  relapse  into  worse  than  their 
former  insensibility.  Nor  is  it  pretended  that  any  one  who 
has  habitually  enjoyed  this  means  of  grace  for  some  length 
of  time,  but  who  occasionally  yields  to  temptation,  and  so 
neglects  to  meet  with  his  class,  thereby  loses  all  spiritual 
life;  but  it  is  affirmed  that  all  such,  by  an  occasional 
attendance  only,  will  gradually  lose  ground,  and  by  an  entire 
neglect  will  be  deprived  of  spiritual  enjoyment  altogether. 
The  class  meeting  is  the  principal  3Iethodistic  test  of  re- 


ON  THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  ITINERANCY.  125 


ligious  character.  Experimental  religion  is  the  only  ground 
of  right  to  association  with  the  spiritual  church  of  God.* 
The  destitution  of  holiness,  of  spiritual  life,  or  of  strenuous 
efforts  to  obtain  it,  is  a  disciplinable  offence.  Discipline 
looks  beyond  a  mere  form  and  profession  of  religion.  The 
church  is  bound,  by  her  very  nature  and  objects,  to  insist  on 
pure  experimental  religion  as  essential  to  right  of  associa- 
tion with  her  and  enjoyment  of  her  privileges.  From  the 
itinerant  character  of  the  Methodist  ministry,  the  class 
meeting  is  the  only  institution  of  the  church  by  which  the 
pastor  can  clearly  and  satisfactorily  determine  the  spirit- 
uality of  his  flock ;  and  this  is  done,  not  only  by  his  personal 
examination  of  the  classes  as  often  as  possible,  but  by  the 
representation  of  the  leaders  who  have  visited  the  classes  in 
his  absence.  Discontinue,  abolish,  or  permit  the  class- 
meeting  system  to  sink  into  neglect,  and  the  pastor  has  but 
little  means  left  by  which  to  obtain  knowledge  of  the  spirit- 
ual condition  of  his  people.  Hence  arises  the  duty  of  each 
member  of  our  church  to  attend,  as  far  as  practicable,  this 
means  of  grace )  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  pastor  and  the 
leaders  to  see  that  this  be  done. 

A  member  of  the  church,  we  have  said,  may  perform  all 
the  moral  duties  of  Christianity ;  but  this  is  not  enough  : 
tjiis  may  be  nothing  more  than  morality,  the  fruit  of  initial 
grace.  And  he  may  also  observe  the  ordinary  services  of 
formal  Christianity,  such  as  the  sacrament,  preaching,  pub- 
lic worship,  private  prayer,  reading  the  Bible,  the  weekly 
prayer-meeting,  and  other  formal  services ;  but  this  is  not 
enough :  this  may  be  nothing  more  than  formality,  the  work 
of  a  formal  profession.  Something  more  is  required  to  en- 
title one  to  association  with  the  invisible  body  of  Christ, 
the  church,  and  qualify  him  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  and 


*  Serious  or  awakened  persons  may  be  received  and  continued  on 
probation. 


126 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


that  is,  a  new,  spiritual,  and  holy  nature,  a  life  hid  with 
Christ  in  God,  a  love,  a  joy,  a  peace  in  the  Holy  Grhost,  a 
hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness,  a  conformity  in 
heart  to  Christ,  the  transforming  power  of  divine  grace,  an 
experimental  knowledge  of  spiritual  things,  deep  and  inti- 
mate communion  with  God,  a  deadness  to  the  world,  a  pure 
and  warm  love  for  the  brethren,  an  exercise  of  the  affections 
on  things  above,  a  pressing  on  to  perfection,  a  cultivation 
and  practical  exercise  of  all  the  Christian  graces ;  in  a  word, 
all  the  fulness  of  God/^  Now  we  ajSirm,  under  the  constitu- 
tion of  an  itinerant  ministry,  such  as  ours  is,  it  is  impossible 
for  the  pastor  to  understand  ordinarily*  the  state  of  his  flock 
in  these  respects,  without  the  use  of  the  class  meeting,  and 
the  aid  of  the  class-leaders;  and  hence  the  obligation  and 
wisdom  of  the  class  meeting  as  a  test  of  membership. 

And  hence  habitual  and  wilful  neglect  to  meet  in  class 
is,  generally,  a  sufficient  ground  for  expulsion  from  the 
church.  This  was  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Wesley.  No  state- 
ment is  capable  of  stronger  proof  than  this.  "  I  preached,'^ 
says  he,  at  Waywick  about  one,  and  then  rode  quietly  to 
Bristol.  I  examined  the  society  the  following  week,  leaving 
out  every  careless  person,  and  every  one  who  wilfully  and 
obstinately  refused  to  meet  his  brethren  weekly.  By  this 
means  their  number  was  reduced  from  nine  hundred  to  about 
seven  hundred  and  thirty. ^'f  On  this  subject  he  wrote  to. 
Rev.  Joseph  Benson,  one  of  his  favorite  and  most  efficient 
preachers,  as  follows  : 


^-  We  say  ordinarily ;  for  cases  of  gross  immorality  might  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  pastor  without  the  aid  of  the  leader ;  but  many  in- 
stances of  neglect  of  religious  duties,  declension  in  piety,  entire  back- 
sliding, and  utter  unfruitfulness,  might  long  remain  in  the  church  with- 
out his  knowledge,  or  come  to  his  knowledge  too  late  for  him  to  render 
them  assistance,  or  guard  the  church  against  scandal  and  injury  of  their 
union  with  her,  or  never  come  to  his  knowledge  at  all. 

f  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  440. 


ON  THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  ITINERANCY.  127 


"Near  London,  Feb,  22,  1776. 
Dear  Joseph  : — We  must  threaten  no  longer,  but  per- 
form. In  November  last,  I  told  the  London  society,  ^  Our 
rule  is,  to  meet  a  class  once  a  week,  not  once  in  two  or  three. 
I  now  give  you  warning :  I  will  give  tickets  to  none  in  Fe- 
bruary, but  those  that  have  done  this.'  I  have  stood  to  my 
word.  Go  you  and  do  likewise,  wherever  you  visit  the 
classes.  Begin,  if  need  be,  at  Newcastle,  and  go  on  at 
Sunderland.  Promises  to  meet  are  now  out  of  date.  Those 
that  have  not  met  seven  times  in  the  quarter,  exclude. 
Eead  their  names  in  the  society ;  and  inform  them  all,  you 
will  the  next  quarter  exclude  all  that  have  not  met  twelve 
times  :  that  is,  unless  they  were  hindered  by  distance,  sick- 
ness, or  by  some  unavoidable  business.  And  I  pray,  with- 
out fear  or  favor,  remove  the  leaders,  whether  of  classes  or 
bands,  who  do  not  watch  over  the  souls  committed  to  their 
care  ^  as  those  that  must  give  account.' 

I  am,  dear  Joseph, 

Yours  affectionately, 

John  Wesley.''* 

Again  :  How  dare  any  man  deny  this  (the  class  meet- 
ing) to  be  (as  to  the  substance  of  it)  a  means  of  grace, 
ordained  of  God  ?"f  After  these  plain  and  unequivocal 
statements,  who  can  doubt  whether  Mr.  Wesley  regarded 
the  regular  observance  of  the  class  meeting  as  a  condition 
of  membership  ?    But  this  is  not  all. 

The  same  is  most  clearly  implied  in  the  object  of  the  in- 
stitution of  classes,  as  it  is  stated  by  Mr.  Wesley,  in  "  The 
Nature,  Design,  and  General  Bules  of  the  United  Societies," 
which  he  wrote  himself.  That  it  may  the  more  easily  he 
discerned  whether  they  are  indeed  worMng  out  their  own 
salvation^  each  society  is  divided  into  smaller  companies, 
called  classes,  according  to  their  respective  places  of  abode. 


Wesley's  Works,  vol.  vii.  p.  76. 


t  Ibid.,  vol.  iii.  p.  127. 


128 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


There  are  about  twelve  persons  in  a  class,  one  of  whom  is 
styled  tJie  leader Here  the  object  is  set  forth.  And  the 
duty  of  the  leader  proves  the  same  thing.  It  is  his  busi- 
ness/' Mr.  Wesley  continues,  (1.)  To  see  each  person  in 
his  class  once  a  week,  at  least,  in  order  to  inquire  how  their 
souls  prosper;  to  advise,  reprove,  comfort,  or  exhort,  as  oc- 
casion may  require. '^f  And  again,  same  page  :  "  (2.)  To 
inform  the  minister  of  any  that  walk  disorderly,  and  will 
not  be  reproved. The  same  language  is  contained  in  our 
Discipline. I  If  such  be  the  design  of  the  classes,  and  such 
the  duties  of  the  leaders,  can  any  one  doubt  that  the  ob- 
servance of  this  means  of  grace  is  a  condition  of  member- 
ship, or  that  any  who  wholly  disregard  its  design,  by  wilful 
and  repeated  neglect,  should  be  excluded  from  the  church? 
An  institution  without  an  object  is  an  absurdity;  an  office 
without  duties  is  an  absurdity;  and  to  allow  neglect  or  viola- 
tion of  a  law  with  impunity  is  to  divest  the  law  of  all 
authority.  The  violation  of  a  law  is  an  offence  committed 
against  its  whole  force,  and  consequently  merits  a  forfeiture 
of  the  interests  protected  by  the  law.  Wilful  and  habitual 
failure  to  meet  class  is  a  practical  denial  of  the  right  of  the 
preacher  to  pastoral  oversight,  because  it  is  a  withdrawal 
from  the  spiritual  care  of  the  leader,  who  is  a  regularly  ap- 
pointed helper  of  the  pastor.  The  nature  and  design  of 
class  meetings,  the  office  and  duties  of  the  leaders,  and,  by 
consequence,  the  pastoral  authority  of  the  preacher,  are 
thus  all  at  a  single  stroke  virtually  regarded  as  nullities  in 
the  constitution  of  our  church ;  and  who  can  for  a  moment 
question  whether  an  offence  of  this  kind  does  not  justly 
disfranchise  the  offender?  More  than  this:  it 'is  an  offence 
committed  against  the  whole  church,  since  every  member 
of  the  church  owes  his  influence  to  the  church ;  but  this  is 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  v.  p.  190. 
X  Discipline,  1854,  pp.  28,  29. 


t  Ibid.,  p.  191. 


ON  THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  ITINERANCY. 


a  withdrawal  of  his  influence,  in  a  great  degree,  from  the 
church.  Nor  is  this  all :  it  is  an  offence  committed  against 
God  himself,  since  every  member  of  the  church  is  under 
allegiance  to  God ;  but  this  is  a  violation  of  allegiance  to 
God,  who  alone  is  the  head  of  the  church.  And,  finally :  it 
is  an  offence  committed  against  the  individual  himself,  since, 
being  associated  with  the  church,  he  has  a  right  to  all  its 
privileges ;  but  this  is  a  wilful  and  repeated  repudiation  of 
the  invaluable  privileges  of  the  class  meeting,  a  prominent 
institution  of  the  church.  Though  no  outward  immorality 
whatever  be  committed,  all  these  elements  enter  into  the  of- 
fence under  consideration ;  and  such  an  offence  is  a  sufficient 
ground  of  exclusion  from  the  Methodist  church,  which  has 
adopted  the  class  meeting  as  the  rule  or  regulation,  in  har- 
mony with  its  itinerant  character,  by  which  alone  the 
spirituality  of  its  members  can  be  fully  determined. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS  DEDUCIBLE  FROM  THEIR 
ESSENTIAL  RELATION  TO  THE  WHOLE  METHODISTIC 
ECONOMY. 

Let  the  classes  be  disbanded,  and  the  Metbodist  Church 
is  dissolved.  Let  this  institution  be  abolished,  and  Itine- 
rancy, the  glory  of  constitutional  Methodism,  is  powerless, 
and  must  soon  be  exchanged  for  some  other  method  of  pre- 
serving and  superintending  the  church.  With  the  abroga- 
tion of  the  Itinerancy,  the  Episcopacy,  as  it  exists  in  our 
church,  must  also  be  abolished ;  and  then  the  people  will 
select  their  own  pastors.  Let  this  institution  be  abolished, 
and  the  great  connectional  principles  of  Methodism  are 
destroyed,  and  our  church  must  be  divided  into  separate  and 
independent  churches,  and  assume  some  new  or  old  form  of 
Congregationalism.  Let  this  institution  be  abolished,  and 
Annual  Conferences,  as  they  are  now  constituted,  must 
undergo  such  serious  modifications  as  to  lose  almost  entirely 
their  character  as  truly  pastoral.  The  General  Conference, 
consequently,  must  also  undergo  corresponding  alterations, 
equally  subversive  of  primitive  Methodism.  Let  this  insti- 
tution be  abolished,  and  to  the  extent  that  every  other  insti- 
tution of  Methodism  is  essentially  connected  with  the  classes 
must  Methodism  undergo  material  changes.^  Thus  a  new 
financial  system  must  be  devised  and  adopted  to  support  the 
preachers,  as  is  now  to  some  extent  applied  in  pew-churches. 
The  ministry  must  devise  some  other  method  to  ascertain 
the  spiritual  condition  of  the  churches  under  their  care. 
Some  other  method  must  be  devised  to  receive  probationers, 

130 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


131 


and  prepare  them  for  full  membership ;  to  promote  the 
spirituality  of  those  who  are  in  the  church,  and  prevent 
improper  persons  from  insinuating  themselves  into  the 
church.  Some  other  mode  of  recommending  suitable  candi- 
dates to  the  Quarterly  Conference  for  license  to  preach  must 
be  devised,  for  this  is  done  now  by  the  classes  or  the  leaders ; 
and  that,  too,  because  if  a  leader  be  a  candidate  for  license 
to  preach,  it  is  presumable  that  his  class  or  the  leaders  are 
best  qualified  to  judge  of  his  merits.  And  so  the  influence 
and  strength  of  the  Quarterly  Conference  would  be  greatly 
abridged,  since  it  is  now  composed  principally  of  leaders, 
and  the  principal  link  between  the  Quarterly  Conference  and 
the  membership  would  be  severed ;  and  on  the  circuits  par- 
ticularly, unless  some  new  method  were  devised,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  represent  and  superintend  properly  all  the 
interests  of  the  church.  Next  would  follow  the  almost  en- 
tire disruption  of  the  bond  existing  between  the  Quarterly 
Conference  and  the  Annual  Conference,  at  least  in  two  most 
important  particulars :  namely,  in  cases  of  appeal,  and  recom- 
mendation to  join  the  travelling  connection,  unless  some 
other  regulation  to  accomplish  these  ends  were  adopted. 
And  when  these  extensive  innovations  should  have  been 
effected,  but  little  would  remain  of  our  present  constitution 
worthy  of  consideration  or  preservation.  The  energy,  effi- 
ciency, and  glory  of  primitive  Methodism  then  will  have 
departed — the  majestic  edifice  soon  to  sink  into  the  dust, 
and  perish,  from  the  earth. 


CHAPTER  V. 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS  DEDUCIBLE  FROM  THEIR 
DESIGN. 

The  obligation  of  the  class  meeting  is  most  clearly  deducible 
from  its  design.  The  design  of  the  institution  is  plainly  set 
forth  in  the  "  General  Eules/'  and  to  them  we  invite  particu- 
lar attention.  They  were  adopted  originally,  we  bave  seen, 
for  the  government  of  the  "  united  society,  first  in  Europe, 
and  then  in  America,'^  which  "is  no  other  than  ^ a  company 
of  men  having  the  form  and  seeking  the  power  of  godliness, 
united  in  order  to  pray  together,  to  receive  the  word  of  ex- 
hortation,  and  to  watch  over  one  another  in  love,  that  they 
may  help  each  other  to  loorJc  out  their  salvation.^  These, 
then,  were  the  great  objects  of  the  formation  of  the  Method- 
ist Church  from  the  beginning.  And  that  it  might  be  dis- 
cerned whether  each  society  was  accomplishing  these  objects, 
it  was  divided  into  classes,  and  a  leader  appointed  to  each, 
with  certain  duties  prescribed.  For  it  is  added;  "(3.)  That 
it  may  the  more  easily  be  discerned,  whether  they  are  in- 
deed working  out  their  own  salvation,  each  society  is  divided 
into  smaller  companies,  called  classes,  according  to  their  re- 
spective places  of  abode.  There  are  about  twelve  persons 
in  a  class,  one  of  whom  is  styled  the  leader The  very 
design  of  the  division  of  the  churcb  into  classes,  then,  is 
that  they  may  pray  together,  receive  the  word  of  exhorta- 
tion, watch  over  one  another  in  love,  and  help  each  other  to 
work  out  their  salvation,  and  ascertain  whether  each  is  in- 


132 


*  Discipline,  1854,  p.  28. 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


133 


deed  working  out  his  salvation.  But  how  can  this  design 
be  accomplished,  or  how  can  it  be  ascertained  who  are,  and 
who  are  not,  working  out  their  own  salvation,  if  the  class 
meeting  be  neglected  ?  That  is,  how  can  they  pray  together, 
receive  the  word  of  exhortation,  watch  over  one  another,  and 
help  each  other  to  work  out  their  salvation,  and  ascertain 
who  are  indeed  doing  this,  unless  they  meet  together  in 
class?  If  any  fail,  therefore,  to  meet  in  class  with  his 
brethren,  it  is  evident  that  he  is  not  seeking  the  power  of 
godliness  that  he  is  neither  receiving  spiritual  help  him- 
self, nor  extending  it  to  others;  and  that,  as  a  Methodist,  he 
is  not  working  out  his  own  salvation.  He,  therefore,  has 
no  longer  any  right  to  association  with  the  Methodist 
Church.  Any  longer  association  with  the  church  would  be 
merely  nominal — would  be  the  same  as  if  he  did  not  belong 
to  the  church  at  all. 

The  same  conclusion  is  deducible  from  a  consideration  of 
the  duties  of  the  leader.  It  is  his  duty  to  see  each  person 
in  his  class  once  a  week  at  least'^* — either  at  the  class  or  at 
his  home.  But  how  can  this  be  done  in  the  case  of  those 
whp  neglect  to  meet  in  class  ?  or  why  should  the  leader 
continue  to  meet  such  at  their  homes,  who  nevertheless  con- 
tinue wilfully  and  repeatedly  to  neglect  their  class  ?  It  is 
as  much  the  duty  of  the  members  to  meet  their  leader,  as 
it  is  his  duty  to  meet  them  in  class.  And  their  wilful  and 
repeated  neglect  to  do  so,  renders  it  impossible  for  him  to 
meet  them  in  class,  and  unnecessary  for  him  to  visit  them 
at  their  homes.  That  is,  he  cannot  inquire  how  their 
souls  prosper,'^  nor  advise,  reprove,  comfort,  or  exhort,  as 
occasion  may  require,^'  nor  "  inform  the  minister  of  any 
that  walk  disorderly,  and  will  not  be  reproved  f '  since  they 
hold  themselves  inaccessible  to  his  care,  and  remove  them- 
selves beyond  his  knowledge. 


*  Discipline,  1854,  p.  28. 
12 


134 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


The  same  conclusion  is  deducible  from  tlie  condition  of 
admission  into  the  societies,  which  is  stated  in  the  following 
terms :  "  (4.)  There  is  only  one  condition  previously  re- 
quired of  those  who  desire  admission  into  these  societies — ^  a 
desire  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  to  be  saved  from 
their  sins/  But  wherever  this  is  really  fixed  in  the  soul,  it 
will  be  shown  by  its  fruits.  It  is  therefore  expected  of  all 
who  continue  therein  that  they  should  continue  to  evidence 
their  desire  of  salvation,  first,  by  doing  no  harm,  by  avoid- 
ing evil  of  every  kind,^' — and  many  things  are  specified  as 
prohibited;  and  secondly,  by  doing  good,^^ — and  many 
are  specified  as  enjoined;  and  thirdly,  by  attending  upon 
all  the  ordinances  of  God,^' — and  several  are  mentioned  as 
required.*  But  how  can  it  be  known  that  this  desire  is 
really  fixed  in  the  soul  how  can  evidence'^  be  obtained 
that  the  members  of  our  church,  or  probationers  in  it,  con- 
tinue to  desire  salvation,^'  unless  they  meet  in  class  ?  How, 
ordinarily,  can  it  be  known,  for  example,  that  any  are  guilty 
of  ^Haking  the  name  of  God  in  vain,''  or  of  '^profaning 
the  day  of  the  Lord,''  or  of  drunkenness,"  or  of  "  fight- 
ing, quarreling,  brawling,"  &c.,  or  of  uncTiaritahle  or  iin- 
profitahle  conversation,"  or  of  '^putting  on  of  gold  and  costly 
apparel,^'  or  of  "  taking  such  diversioiis  as  cannot  be  used 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  or  of  laying  up  treasure 
upon  earth,"  unless  there  be  some  one,  as  the  leader,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  look  after  the  outward  conduct  of  the  people, 
and  some  suitable  means,  as  the  class  meeting,  through 
which,  upon  inquiry,  he  obtains  the  knowledge  of  these 
things  ?  And  so,  ordinarily,  how  can  it  be  known  that  any 
are  ^'  doing  good  of  every  possible  sort,"  or  are  using  all 
possible  diligence  and  frugality or  are  running  with 
patience  the  race  which  is  set  before  them — are  denying 
themselvesj  and  taking  up  tlieir  cross  daily  ;  submitting  to 


*  Discipline,  1854,  pp.  29-33. 


DEDUCIBLE  FROM  THEIR  DESIGN. 


135 


bear  the  reproach  of  Christ/^  &c.,  unless  these  things  are  - 
made  subjects  of  faithful  investigation  by  the  class-leader, 
in  his  intercourse  with  his  members  in  the  class-room,  or  in 
his  observation  of  their  outward  and  daily  walk  ?  Or  how, 
ordinarily,  can  it  be  known  that  any  attend  upon  ^Hhe 
ministry  of  the  word/'  or  the  Lord's  supper/'  or  family 
and  private  prayer/'  or     searching  the  Scriptures/'  or 

fasting  and  abstinence/'  unless  these  things  be  made  sub- 
jects of  special  inquiry  in  the  class-room,  or  in  the  visits  of 
the  leader  to  the  members  of  his  class  ? 

The  same  conclusion  is  deducible  from  the  concluding 
paragraph  of  the  General  Eules  :  (7.)  These  are  the 
general  rules  of  our  societies  :  all  of  which  we  are  taught 
of  God  to  observe,  even  in  his  written  word,  which  is  the  ' 
only  rule,  and  the  sufficient  rule,  both  of  our  faith  and  prac- 
tice. And  all  these  we  know  his  Spirit  writes  on  truly 
awakened  hearts.  If  there  be  any  among  us  who  observe 
them  not,  who  habitually  break  any  of  them,  let  it  be  known 
unto  them  who  watch  over  that  soul,  as  they  who  must  give 
an  account.  We  will  admonish  him  of  the  error  of  his 
ways.  We  will  bear  with  him  for  a  season.  But  if  then 
he  repent  not,  he  hath  no  more  place  among  us.  We  have 
delivered  our  own  souls."*  It  is  in  the  class  meeting,  ordi- 
narily, that  it  is  discovered  who  observe  not"  these  rules, 
or  ^^who  habitually  break  any  of  them/'  and  such  are  to  be 
reported  to  the  pastor,  who  is  to  admonish"  and  "bear 
with  them  for  a  season,"  and  "  then,  if  they  repent  not," 
they  "  have  no  more  a  place  among  us," — they  are  to  be  ex- 
pelled from  the  church  according  to  the  Discipline. 

The  obligation  of  class  meetings  is  deducible  from  their 
design  in  another  repect,  viz.,  the  accomplishment,  through 
them,  of  the  great  objects  of  the  Methodist  Church  and 
ministry. 


*  Discipline,  1854,  pp.  33,  34. 


136  OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


1.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Methodist  ministry  to  ascertain, 
as  far  as  possible^  the  spiritual  state  and  conduct  of  those 
under  their  care :  consequently,  they  are  invested  with 
authority  to  adopt  the  most  suitable  measures  to  accomplisli 
this  object.  Therefore,  those  under  their  care  are  under 
obligation  to  observe  such  measures.  Again  and  again  we 
have  shown  that  the  class  meeting  is  a  regulation  the  most 
suitable,  yea,  is  indispensable,  to  accomplish  the  objects  of 
an  itinerant  ministry;  and  hence  the  Methodist  ministry 
have  a  right  to  require  those  under  their  care  to  observe 
this  regulation,  and  those  under  their  care  are  under  obliga- 
tion to  do  it.  "Without  a  knowledge  of  their  people,  the 
ministry  cannot  discharge  their  duty  to  them ;  and  without 
the  class  meeting  the  Methodist  ministry  cannot  obtain  this 
knowledge;  and,  therefore,  without  the  class  meeting  the 
Methodist  ministry  cannot  discharge  their  duty  to  their 
people.  Ministerial  obligation,  if  nothing  more,  demands 
the  imposition  and  enforcement  of  the  class  meeting  as  a 
regulation  of  church-government  and  a  test  of  membership. 
If  a  member  wilfully  and  habitually  neglects  his  class,  he 
voluntarily  and  actually  places  himself  beyond  the  oversight 
of  his  minister,  and  the  minister  is  of  necessity  compelled 
to  regard  him  as  worthy  of  being  formally  removed  from 
his  pastoral  care.  If  he  fail  to  do  this,  he  does  not  dis- 
charge his  duty,  and  he  must  then  have  those  nominally 
under  his  oversight  to  whom  he  cannot  extend  the  proper 
care  :  he  has  now  no  access  to  them ;  they  are  really  sheep 
without  a  shepherd,  and  he  is,  in  fact,  a  shepherd  without 
sheep.  He,  therefore,  is  under  the  most  solemn  obligation 
to  require  of  his  charge  the  observance  of  the  class  meeting, 
that  he  may  discharge  his  duty  to  them  as  pastor ;  and  they 
are  under  a  similar  obligation  to  observe  it,  that  they  may 
discharge  their  duty  to  him  as  the  flock  of  Christ.  To  be 
under  solemnly  imposed  and  acknowledged  responsibility,  in 
circumstances  voluntarily  allowed,  in  which  it  is  impossible 


DEDUCIBLE  FROM  THEIR  DESIGN. 


to  discharge  it,  is  surely  a  very  grave  and  serious  matter  to 
any  one ;  but  for  a  Methodist  minister  to  be  in  charge  of, 
and  responsible  for,  a  church  of  Christ,  of  whom  he  knows 
but  little,  and  can  know  but  little,  so  long  as  he  permits 
them  to  neglect,  wilfully  and  repeatedly,  the  only  means 
through  which  he  can  acquire  a  proper  knowledge  of  their 
spiritual  state  and  conduct,  is  a  matter  of  incalculable  con- 
cern both  to  him  and  them.  How  can  he  render  an  accept- 
able account  to  God  ?  How  can  he  render  a  just  and 
acceptable  account  of  a  people  of  whom  he  was  compara- 
tively ignorant,  and  of  whom  he  was  content  to  be  ignorant, 
and  whom  he  nevertheless  recognised  and  encouraged  as  the 
people  of  God?  And  how  can  such  a  people  render  an 
acceptable  account  to  God  for  having  wilfully  and  habitually 
withheld  themselves,  by  neglect  of  class  meetings,  from  the 
knowledge  of  their  pastors,  whom  they  nevertheless  ac- 
knowledged as  their  pastors,  and  to  whom  they  should  have 
looked  for  spiritual  comfort  and  direction  ?  May  the  Lord 
pardon  our  sins  in  these  solemn  matters,  and  may  we  do 
better  as  pastors  and  people  in  future  ! 

2.  Without  the  class  meeting,  the  members  of  the 
church  cannot  discharge  certain  religious  duties  to  one 
another.  Christians  are  commanded  to  "  bear  one  another^s 
burdens;'^  the  "strong  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak;^' 
to  "  heal  the  lame  to  "  restore,  in  the  spirit  of  meekness, 
those  overtaken  in  a  fault  to  "  strengthen  the  hands  that 
hang  down,  and  confirm  the  feeble  knees to  "  weep  with 
those  that  weep,  and  rejoice  with  those  that  rejoice  3''  to 
"  exhort,  rebuke,  and  admonish and  mark  such  as  "  walk 
disorderly,''  and  "  cause  divisions.''  But  all  this  cannot  be 
<}one  without  a  knowledge  of  one  another ;  and,  as  Metho- 
dists, without  the  class  meeting,  we  can  have  but  an  imper- 
fact  knowledge  of  one  another  in  these  respects;  and  hence, 
szherever  the  class  meeting  is  generally  neglected  by  a 
church,  the  members  cannot  properly  discharge  their  duties 


138  OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 


to  one  another.  Hence,  for  want  of  this  mutual  help,  in 
some  places  our  churches  advance  so  slowly,  and  in  other 
places  decline.  It  is  needless  to  affirm  that  other  Christian 
denominations  have  not  the  class  meeting,  and  yet  they 
discharge  these  Christian  duties.  We  still  maintain  that 
unless  the  members  of  other  Christian  denominations 
observe  some  method  substantially  like  the  class  meeting, 
or  that  accomplishes  the  object  of  the  class  meeting,  they 
cannot  obtain  the  proper  knowledge  of  one  another,  and  so 
cannot  reciprocally  discharge  their  duties.  Let  every 
Methodist,  therefore,  for  the  sake  of,  and  from  his  relation 
to,  his  brethren,  discharge  his  responsibility  in  these  parti- 
culars by  a  faithful  observance  of  the  class  meeting.  The 
common  spiritual  good  of  his  class  demands  it.  God  com- 
mands it.  The  Bible  enjoins  it.  The  church  requires  it. 
What !  brother,  sister,  nothing  to  do  for  others  ?  and  doing 
nothing  for  others?-  and  receiving  no  good  from  others? 
Of  what  use  are  you,  then,  to  the  church  ?  Of  what  use  is 
the  church  to  you  ?  It  is  a  blank  to  you,  and  you  to  it. 
These  are  solemn  inquiries  to  one  who  is  professionally  a 
member  of  ^^the  body  of  Christ,''  which  is  the  church. 
By  as  much  as  these  duties  of  mutual  help  are  sacred  and 
important,  and  are  enjoined  in  the  Bible,  and  the  class 
meeting  is  the  only  means  through  which,  as  Methodists, 
we  can  obtain  the  knowledge  of  one  another  required  to 
discharge  them,  is  it  the  duty  of  Methodists  to  attend  class 
meetings ;  and  by  so  much  is  culpability  incurred  by  any 
who  deliberately  and  repeatedly  neglect  to  do  it.  ^  The 
more  prolonged  the  neglect,  the  more  accumulated  the 
guilt;  the  more  general  the  neglect,  the  more  extensive  the 
evil  results.  Our  churches,  neglecting  class  meetings,  may 
be  blessed  with  revivals,  but  they  will  gradually  decline  in 
extent  and  power,  because  they  will  have  become  too  weak 
to  tahe  care  of  the  converts,  since  their  individual  members 
had  not  taken  care  of  one  another.    The  spiritual  ligaments 


DEDUCIBLE  FROM  THEIR  DESIGN. 


139 


of  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  are  the  classes, 
which  Mr.  Wesley  called  ^^The  smews  of  the  Methodist 
Church.^^  Sever  these,  and  our  church  crumbles  to  pieces. 
May  God  strengthen  and  tighten  these  bonds,  that  we  may 
be  indissolubly  one,  as  Christ  and  the  Father  are  one,  and 
that  we  may  be  a  name,  and  a  praise  to  God,  and  a  blessing 
to  each  other  and  to  the  world  ! 


mimm 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS  EXPLICITLY  EXPRESSED 
IN  THE  DISCIPLINE. 

The  obligation  of  class  meetings,  as  a  test  of  membership, 
is  clearly  and  explicitly  expressed  in  our  discipline. 

Quest.  1.  What  shall  we  do  with  those  members  of  our 
church  who  wilfully  and  repeatedly  neglect  to  meet  their 
class  ? 

Ans.  1.  Let  the  elder,  deacon,  or  one  of  the  preachers 
visit  them,  whenever  it  is  practicable,  and  explain  to  them 
the  consequence  if  they  continue  to  neglect,  viz.,  exclusion. 

If  they  do  not  amend,  let  him  who  has  the  charge  of  the 
circuit  or  station  bring  their  case  before  the  society,  or  a 
select  number,  before  whom  they  shall  have  been  cited  to 
appear  :  and  if  they  be  found  guilty  of  wilful  neglect  by 
the  decision  of  a  majority  of  the  members  before  whom 
their  case  is  brought,  let  them  be  laid  aside,  and  let  the 
preacher  show  that  they  are  excluded  for  a  breach  of  our 
rules,  and  not  for  immoral  conduct.^ ^''^ 

Wilful  and  repeated  neglect  of  class  meeting  is  here  as 
clearly  stated  as  sufficient  cause  for  expulsion,  as  immorality 
or  crime  is,  in  other  parts  of  the  Discipline ;  only  a  dis- 
tinction is  made  between  it  and  immoral  conduct  from  a 
tender  regard  to  the  feelings  and  reputation  of  the  offender. 
No  duty  is  more  clearly  set  forth  in  the  constitution  of  the 
Methodist  Church  as  a  test  of  membership  than  is  the 
observance  of  class  meeting.    The  most  violent  construction^ 


140 


Discipline,  1854,  pp.  122,  123. 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


141 


of  the  rule  on  the  subject  cannot  set  aside  this  plain  mean- 
ing. Every  case  of  wilful  and  repeated  neglect''  is 
arraignable  under  positive  law.  And  let  no  one,  under  a 
mistaken  notion  of  improving  Methodism,  seek  to  have  this 
test  of  membership  done  away,  unless  he  prefers  careless 
and  worldly-minded  professors  of  religion  to  the  living 
stones  of  the  temple  of  God.''* 

The  obligation,  as  a  test  of  membership,  of  the  class  meet- 
ing, is  also  most  clearly  expressed  in  the  section  of  our 
Discipline  on  the  reception  of  members  into  the  church." 
It  is  asked,  "  How  shall  we  prevent  improper  persons  from 
insinuating  themselves  into  the  church?"  And  it  is 
answered,  ^^3.  Let  none  he  received  into  the  church  until 
they  are  recommended  hy  a  leader  with  whom  they  have  met 
at  least  six  months  on  trial,  and  shall  give  satisfactory 
assurances  of  their  willingness  to  observe  and  Jceejp  the  rules 
of  the  church/^'f  What  is  here  made  conditional  of  recep- 
tion into  the  church,  must  be  conditional  of  continuance  in 
the  church;  and  what  is  designed  to  prevent  improper  per- 
sons from  insinuating  themselves  into  the  church,"  must  be 
designed  to  exclude  improper  persons"  from  the  church. 
Neglect  to  meet  in  class  at  least  six  months,  is  made  the 
ground  of  rejection  by  the  church;  and  neglect  to  meet  in 
class  is  as  good  ground  to  exclude  any  from  the  church. 
The  reason  is  the  same  in  both  cases :  if  it  be  waived  in  the 
latter,  it  should  be  in  the  former.  If  none  should  be  ex- 
cluded from  the  church  for  neglect  of  class  meeting,  none 
should  be  denied  admission  into  the  church  for  its  neglect. 
That  which  is  made  the  test  of  Christian  character  and  of 
right  to  reception  into  the  church,  is  made  the  test  of  Chris- 
tian character  and  of  right  to  continuance  in  the  church. 
Therefore,  the  class  meeting  is  as  much  a  test  of  member- 


*  Bishop  Morris :  Introduction  to  "  Miley  on  Class  Meetings,"  p.  21, 
t  Discipline,  1854,  pp.  96,  97. 


142 


OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


ship  as  it  is  a  test  of  probation.  No  one,  according  to  our 
church  polity,  has  a  right  to  the  privileges  of  church  mem- 
bership who  is  not  a  Christian,  or  seeking  to  be  a  Christian ; 
and  the  class  meeting  is  the  test  whether  he  is  such,  or 
seeking  to  be  such. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

OBLIGATION  OP  CLASS  MEETINGS  FOUNDED  UPON  THE 
SOCIAL  COMPACT  OF  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

The  obligation  of  class  meetings,  as  a  test  of  membership, 
is  voluntarily  assumed  by  all  who  join  the  Methodist  Church. 
Matters  that  may  not  be  prescribed  by  positive  law,  but 
which  are  conducive  to  the  peace  and  order  of  a  church,  are 
proper  subjects  of  incorporation  into  the  polity  of  the  church; 
and  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  lawful  authority  in  the  church 
to  determine  such  things.  That  may  be  lawfully  com- 
manded which  is  in  itself  lawful,  or  may  be  lawfully  done. 
Now,  granting,  which  we  have  done,  that  the  class  meeting 
is  not  specifically  enjoined  in  the  Bible,  yet  it  may  be  law- 
fully ordained  by  those  in  authority  in  our  church  as  essen- 
tial to  the  peace  and  order  of  our  church,  because  it  is  sub- 
stantially contained  in  the  Bible.  And  it  follows,  that  men 
may  yield  to  the  restraint  of  their  Christian  liberty  in  this, 
and  all  other  matters  substantially  scriptural,  that  may  be 
enacted  and  enjoined  by  lawful  authority  in  the  church,  as 
essential  to  its  peace  and  order.  That  is,  though  the  class 
meeting  is  imposed  as  a  thing  in  itself  lawful,  and  conducive 
to  the  peace,  order,  and  prosperity  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
no  one  is  to  be  held  responsible  to  observe  it  until  he  so 
far  yield  his  Christian  liberty  as  voluntarily  to  assume  the 
obligation  to  do  so.  Then  observance  of  the  class  meeting 
becomes  a  test  of  membership  to  him,  because  he  obligates 
himself  to  do  what  the  lawful  authority  in  the  church  en- 
joins, and  what  it  is  lawful  to  enjoin;  and  it  is  lawful  to  be 
done,  because  concurrent  with  the  written  word  of  God.    If  ^ 

143 


144 


OBLIGATION  OP  CLASS  MEETINGS 


the  class  meeting  were  intrinsically  evil,  or  circumstantially 
conflicting  with  the  peace  and  order  of  the  church,  no 
authority  in  the  church  could  make  the  observance  of  it 
lawful :  but  no  one  acquainted  with  the  institution  will  as- 
sert these  of  it.  In  other  words,  where  one  unites  himself 
with  the  Methodist  Church,  he  voluntarily  consents  to  observe 
the  class  meeting  as  an  institution  ordained  as  essential  to 
its  peace  and  order;  therefore,  when  he  refuses  to  observe 
it,  he  opposes  himself  to  its  peace  and  order,  and  so  should 
not  be  allowed  longer  to  continue  in  its  membership:  he 
has  violated  his  obligation,  and  exclusion  is  the  just  penalty. 
The  only  objection  that  can  be  made  to  this  argument  is, 
that  the  observance  of  class  meeting  is  not  essential  to  the 
peace  and  order  of  our  church,  which  no  one  will  make  who 
understands  the  constitution  of  our  church.  It  is  not  as- 
sumed, but  denied,  that  the  lawful  authority  in  the  church 
can  impose  any  thing  for  its  peace  and  order  which  is  in  op- 
position to  reason  and  evidence  brought  from  the  Scripture; 
for  no  man  has  lawful  power  over  his  own  conscience,  much 
less  can  others  exercise  such  power.*  God  alone  can  exer- 
cise this  power.  And  therefore,  where  the  lawful  authority 
in  the  church  imposes  any  thing  consistent  with  the  written 
word,  and  any  one  joins  the  church  believing  that  which  is 
imposed  is  in  accordance  with  the  written  word,  he  is  bound 
to  comply  with  it.  In  other  words,  neither  the  governors  in 
the  church  nor  private  members  are  to  judge  of  what  is 
lawful  and  binding,  and  what  not,  independently  of  the  di- 
vine standard ;  but  where  both  the  governors  and  private 
members  agree  that  the  things  imposed  are  in  accordance 
with  the  divine  standard,  then  the  things  imposed  by  the 

*  "  The  rights  of  conscience  are,  indeed,  beyond  the  just  reach  of  any 
human  power.  They  are  given  by  God,  and  cannot  be  encroached  upon 
by  human  authority,  without  a  criminal  disobedience  of  the  precepts 
of  natural  as  well  as  of  revealed  religion."— Story,  on  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  vol.  ii.  p.  594. 


ON  THE  SOCIAL  COMPACT  OF  THE  CHURCH.  145 


governors  are  binding  on  the  private  members^  as  in  tbe  case 
of  class  meetings.  So  long  as  Methodists  believe  class 
meetings  to  be  warranted  in  substance  by  the  written  word 
of  God,  that  is,  required  for  the  peace,  order,  and  continu- 
ance of  the  Methodist  Church,  they  are  bound,  by  their 
voluntary  association  with  the  church,  to  observe  them  as 
the  church  requires;  and  non-observance,  therefore,  is  a  just 
ground  of  exclusion. 

It  is  an  axiom  of  reason,  that  all  who  are  admitted  into 
a  particular  church  must  consent  to  he  governed  hy  tlie  lows 
and  regulations  of  that  churchy  according  to  its  constitution, 
as  constituted  at  the  time  of  their  entrance  into  it,  and  in 
accordance  ivith  the  written  woi^d  of  God.'^  In  this  case, 
every  one  voluntarily  parts  with  so  much  of  his  natural  rights 
as  is  required  for  the  peace  and  well-being  of  the  church. 
This  consent  is  expressed  formally  in  baptism,  because  bap- 
tism is  the  formal,  sensible  initiation  into  the  church  of 
Christ;  and  he  that  is  baptized  by  the  Methodist  ministry  c<m- 
sents  to  be  governed  by  the  laws  and  regulations  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  to  keep  its  outward  rules/'  Nature 
requires,  that  every  one  entering  into  a  society  should  consent 
to  the  rules  of  it.  Our  Saviour  hath  determined  how  this  con- 
sent should  be  expressed,  viz.,  by  receiving  baptism  from  those 
who  have  power  to  dispense  it :  which  is  the  federal  right 
whereby  our  consent  is  expressed  to  own  all  the  laws,  and 
submit  to  them,  whereby  this  society  (the  church)  is  go- 
verned.And  so  our  discipline  prescribes  :  Let  none 
be  received  into  the  church,  until  they  have  been  recom- 
mended by  a  leader  with  whom  they  have  met  at  least  six 
months  on  trial,  and  have  been  baptized,  and  shall,  on  ex- 
amination by  the  minister  in  charge,  give  satisfactory  as- 
surances both  of  the  correctness  of  their  faith,  and  of  their 


*  Stillingfleet's  Irenicum,  p,  159 
13 


t  Ibid.,  p.  160. 


146  OBLIGATION  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS 

willingness  to  observe  and  keep  the  rules  of  the  chitrch.'^^ 
This  consent  is  confirmed  by  the  six  months'  probation;  and 
the  candidate  received  into  full  membership  is  regarded  as 
having  voluntarily  and  deliberately  assumed  the  obligation 
to  observe  and  keep  all  the  rules  of  the  church  -/^  and  one 
of  these  is  the  rule  on  the  subject  of  the  classes,  the  observ- 
ance of  whicb  was  made  the  test  of  reception  into  the 
church.  It  is  to  be  observed,  there  is  an  antecedent  obliga- 
tion upon  all  men,  binding  them  to  this  voluntary  consent 
to  join  the  Christian  church;  and  he  who  thus  joins  our 
branch  of  the  Christian  church,  the  Methodist  Church,  for 
instance,  joins  the  Christian  church,  and  voluntarily  consents 
to  observe  and  keep  the  rules''  of  that  brancb  of  the 
Christian  church.  In  baptism,  then,  a  Methodist  solemnly 
consents  and  pledges  himself  to  observe  and  keep  the 
rule"  on  the  subject  of  class  meeting.  Not  that  this  duty 
is  expressed,  but  it  is  implied.  The  desire  of  admission 
doth  necessarily  imply  men's  consenting  to  the  laws  of  that 
society,  and  walking  according  to  the  duties  of  it ;  and  so 
they  are  consequentially  and  virtually y  though  not  expressly 
and  formally ,  bound  to  all  the  duties  required  of  them  in 
that  relation. "f  In  the  case  of  persons  baptized  in  infancy, 
there  is  no  necessity  of  rebaptism,  since  they  can  now  de- 
clare their  own  voluntary  consent  to  submit  to  the  laws  of 
Christ,  and  to  conform  their  lives  to  the  profession  of 
Christianity  which  their  infant  baptism  prospectively  em- 
braced, that  is,  required  should  be  done  as  soon  as  they  ar- 
rived at  responsible  age. 

But  antecedently  to  the  formal  and  voluntary  consent  to 
enter  the  church,  there  is  obligation  upon  every  person  to 
embrace  and  profess  the  Christian  religion,  and  discharge 
all  the  duties  which  the  gospel  imposes ;  and  consequently 
every  Christian  is  bound  to  obey  the  rules  and  regulations 


*  Discipline,  1854,  pp.  96,  9T.       f  StiUingfleet^s  Irenicum,  p.  166. 


ON  THE  SOCIAL  COMPACT  OF  THE  CHURCH.  147 


of  the  particular  evangelical  church  with  which  he  associates 
himself.  This  obligation  exists  antecedently  to  the  consti- 
tution of  the  government  of  any  particular  church,  and  the 
government,  when  constituted,  expresses  and  enforces  this 
obligation.  Consent  is  supposed,  and  association  necessary 
to  church-government,  it  is  true;  but  the  authority  of  the 
government  originates  in  a  higher  source  than  the  consent 
of  the  individual  members  of  the  church;  and  therefore 
whenever  a  person  voluntarily  joins  a  particular  evangelical 
church,  he  is  bound  to  observe  and  keep  all  the  rules  and 
regulations  of  that  particular  church,  provided  its  rules  and 
regulations  be  consistent  with  divine  authority.  If  the  laws 
of  the  church  be  of  this  nature,  its  officers  have  the  power 
to  exclude  any  offenders.  It  were  impossible  any  society 
should  be  upheld,  if  it  were  not  laid  down  by  the  founder 
of  the  society  as  the  necessary  duty  of  all  members  to  undergo 
the  penalties  which  shall  be  inflicted  by  those  who  have  the 
care  of  governing  that  society,  so  they  be  not  contrary  to 
the  laws,  nature,  and  constitution  of  it,  else  there  would  be 
no  provision  made  for  preventing  divisions  and  confusions, 
which  will  happen  upon  any  breach  made  upon  the  laws  of 
the  society."*  And  as  the  enjoyment  of  the  privileges  of 
a  particular  church  depends  upon  conditions  to  be  discharged 
by  every  member  of  it,  and,  as  already  proved,  those  who 
have  the  care  of  that  church  are  to  judge  of  these  condi- 
tions, which  in  all  cases  must  require  an  evangelical  charac- 
ter and  life,  therefore,  whoever  fails  to  discharge  them,  for- 
feits all  the  privileges  of  that  particular  church.  Indeed, 
these  conditions  requiring  a  separation  from  the  world,  and 
evangelical  holiness  in  heart  and  life,  and  being,  so  long  as 
they  are  discharged,  pledges  of  right  to  the  enjoyment 
of  all  the  privileges  of  the  church,  he  who  violates  these 
conditions  voluntarily  withdraws  himself  from  the  church, 


*  Stillingfleet's  Irenicum,  p.  462. 


148  OBLIGATION  OV  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


and  does  in  fact  what  should  be  justly  and  formally  done  in 
his  case  by  those  in  authority  in  the  church.  A  person 
falling  into  those  offences  which  merit  excommunication,  is 
supposed,  in  so  doing,  voluntarily  to  renounce  his  interest  in 
those  privileges,  the  enjoyment  of  which  doth  depend  upon 
abstaining  from  those  offences  which  he  wilfully  falls  into, 
especially  if  contumacy  be  found  with  them,  as  it  is  before 
excommunication,  for  then  nothing  is  done  forcibly  toward 
him;  for  he  first  relinquished  his  right,  before  the  church 
governor  declares  him  excluded  the  society.  So  that  the 
offender  doth  meritoriously  excommunicate  himself;  the  pas- 
tor doth  it  formally  by  declaring  that  he  hath  made  himself 
no  member  by  his  offences  and  contumacy  joined  with 
them.''* 

All  we  have  said  in  defence  of  the  obligation  of  class 
meetings  is  strongly  supported  by  the  benefits  of  the  insti- 
tion,  to  which,  though  an  independent  part  of  this  Treatise, 
we  shall  next  give  our  attention. 


*  Stillingfleet,  Discourse  on  Power  of  Excommunication,  §  23. 


PAET  III. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 

They  are  numerouvS  and  inestimable  : 

1.  Religious  sympathy.  The  sympathy  of  a  friend  is  a 
great  privilege  and  a  real  felicity  in  time  of  trouble,  and  the 
want  of  such  a  friend  is  an  aggravation  of  our  misery. 
Whether  oppressed  by  distressing  fears  or  painful  doubts, 
or  suffering  from  secret  temptation  or  open  persecution,  or 
contending  with  inward  corruptions  or  outward  afflictions, 
or  seeking  a  sense  of  pardoning  love  or  the  full  salvation  of 
God, — the  Christian,  by  a  plain  and  simple  statement  of  his 
case,  will  excite  in  the  minds  of  his  brethren  a  sincere  sym- 
pathy and  concern  in  his  behalf ;  and  they  will  recite  similar 
scenes  and  trials  through  which  they  have  passed;  they 
will  expose  the  fallacy  of  his  temptations ;  they  will  elevate 
his  views  of  the  mercy  and  goodness  of  God;  they  will 
console  and  support  him  by  explaining  the  promises  of  his 
grace;  they  will  fervently  and  repeatedly  intercede  for  the 
blessings  he  seeks ;  they  will  recount  numerous  examples  of 
fortitude,  patience,  and  submission  suitable  to  his  case;  and 
assure  him  that  his  is  the  ordinary  experience  of  those  whom 
Jesus  loves,  and  that  his,  if  faithful,  shall  be  another  in- 
stance of  the  blessed  deliverance  of  the  people  of  God. 

2.  A  holy  courage  is  excited.  The  glorious  facts  of  reli- 
gious experience  related  in  class  meeting  are  intensely 

13*  U9 


150 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


animating.  Deliverence  from  the  guilt,  condemnation,  and 
power  of  sin, — exultation  in  the  joys  of  remission  of  sin — 
sensible  advancement  of  fellow-Christians  toward  purifying 
faith  and  perfect  love — entire  sanctification  and  the  seal  of 
the  abiding  Comforter — the  blissful  prospects  of  death  and 
heaven, — are  all  of  this  nature.  To  these  may  be  added  the 
simplicity,  meekness,  humility,  faith,  love,  patience,  resigna- 
tion, and  courage  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  the  pious, 
which  add  lustre  to  their  testimony.  The  weak  believer  is 
encouraged  to  besiege  the  throne  of  grace  with  a  holy  vio- 
lence and  importunity  of  faith,  that  he  may  be  saved  from 
all  obduracy  and  unbelief ;  and  overcome  inward  corruption 
and  outward  temptations ;  and  bear  patiently  the  manifold 
infirmities  and  defects  of  himself  and  others ;  and  subdue 
all  emotions  of  pride,  and  self,  and  any  tempers  contrary  to 
the  love  of  God  and  man ;  and  grasp  the  promises  of  entire 
holiness ;  and  acquire  the  preparation  for  the  open  vision  of 
God.  And  so  of  other  Christians.  The  inconstant  are 
stimulated  to  seek  to  be  rooted  and  stablished  in  love ;  sub- 
jects of  gloomy  reasonings  respecting  their  acceptance,  or 
those  wlio  are  strongly  tempted  to  doubt  the  reality  of  their 
conversion,  are  encouraged  to  plead  more  earnestly  for  the 
witness  of  the  Spirit ;  those  who  fear  that  their  repentance 
and  faith  were  not  sincere,  are  encouraged  to  redouble  their 
diligence  when  they  hear  old  and  experienced  Christians 
referring  in  a  similar  manner  to  their  former  experience ; 
those  who  doubt  whether  they  have  any  saving  faith  at  all 
will  be  elated  by  the  recital  of  others  on  the  same  subject, 
and  be  inspired  with  resolution  to  approach  with  humble 
confidence  their  heavenly  Father  for  light  to  scatter  their 
darkness,  and  enlarge  their  gracious  comforts ;  and  even 
those  (and  there  are  many)  who  have  relapsed  and  lost  their 
first  love,'^  are  roused  to  renewed  repentance  and  the  per- 
formance of  their  first  works  in  a  word,  the  whole 
society  is  spiritually  quickened  and  revived. 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


151 


3.  It  is  a  blessed  means  of  mutual  love  and  help.  Love 
is  the  tender  passion  that  animates  the  whole  church — the 
strong  bond  that  binds  the  whole  family  of  God  together. 
"A  new  commandment/*  says  Jesus,  ^^I  give  unto  you,  that 
ye  love  one  another.^'  Love  one  another/^  says  he  again, 
^^as  I  have  loved  you.^'  And  says  John,  He  that  loveth 
not  his  brother  abideth  in  death. In  proportion  as  we  love 
God,  we  love  his  people,  and  help  them.  And  when  we  see 
amiable  tempers  and  Christian  graces  disclosed  in  the  rela- 
tion of  Christian  experience,  not  only  mutual  confidence  is 
excited,  but  a  very  strong  attachment  also  is  produced,  that 
extends  a  mutual  help.  When  a  happy  correspondence  be- 
tween the  outward  walk  and  inward  piety  of  believers  is 
discovered,  which  can  be  known  only  by  the  disclosure  of 
the  interior  life,  we  are  not  only  prepared  to  comfort,  en- 
courage, and  strengthen  one  another,  but  form  an  intimacy 
of  the  holiest  nature,  a  union  of  the  strongest  character, 
and  commingle  and  heighten  the  purer  charms  and  real  en- 
dearments of  religious  society.  Union  is  strength,  and 
Christian  union  is  the  best  strength — a  strength  that  the 
power  of  earth  and  hell  can  neither  crush  nor  resist.  There 
are  some  Christians  whose  faith  is  so  strong,  and  whose  love 
is  so  pure  anS  fervid,  that  single-handed  they  would  be 
more  than  a  match  for  any  combination  of  enemies  that 
might  be  formed  against  them ;  and  it  is  these  who  are  the 
leaders  and  supporters  of  the  weak  in  the  church.  We, 
then,  that  are  strong,  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the 
weak.'^*  Bear  with  their  errors,  and  correct  them;  bear 
with  their  scruples,  and  endeavor  to  relieve  them ;  bear 
with  their  failures,  and  admonish  them  to  do  better  in 
future;  bear  with  their  weakness,  and  strengthen  them; 
bear  with  their  doubts,  and  remove  them ;  bear  with  their 
inconstancy,  and  confirm  them;  bear  with  their  coldness, 


*  Rom.  XV.  1. 


152 


BEXEriTS  ENUMERATED. 


and  animate  them ;  bear  with  their  fears,  and  encourage 
them. 

The  influence  of  Christian  affection,  sympathy,  and  faith, 

in  a  class-room,  extends  farther  than  to  the  encouraging  the 
weak  and  timid ;  it  also  attracts  every  member  into  closer 
fellowship.  And  so  one  class  becomes  endeared  to  another, 
till  the  whole  church  lives  in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit.  But 
where  the  intimate  spiritual  fellowship  of  the  class  meeting 
is  unknown,  it  is  not  surprising  that  piety  should  decline, 
divisions  and  jealousies  occur,  other  means  of  grace  be  neg- 
lected, and  the  church  suffer  loss  both  in  influence  and  number. 
"On  Monday  and  Tuesdai/j^  says  Mr.  "Wesley,  ^'I  took  an 
account  of  the  society,  (at  Cork,)  and  was  grieved,  though  not 
surprised,  to  find  such  a  declension.  I  left  two  hundred 
and  ninety  members :  I  find  only  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
three.  And  what  will  the  end  be,  unless  those  that  remain 
learn  to  bear  one  another's  burdens  And  yet  in  another 
case,  wher^  this  means  of  grace  was  observed,  3Ir.  "Wesley 
found  great  reason  to  bless  God :  ^*  In  examining  this  society, 
(at  Port  Isaac,)  I  found  much  reason  to  bless  God  on  their 
behalf.  They  diligently  observe  all  the  rules  of  the  society, 
with  or  without  a  preacher.  They  constantly  attend  the 
church  and  sacrament,  and  meet  together  at  the  times  ap- 
pointed. The  consequence  is,  that  thirty  out  of  thirty-five, 
their  whole  number,  continue  to  walk  in  the  light  of  God's 
countenance. Again :  "  I  rode  to  Chester.  Xever  was 
the  society  in  such  a  state  before.  Their  jars  and  conten- 
tions were  at  an  end ;  and  I  found  nothing  but  peace  and 
love  among  them.  About  twelve  of  them  believed  they  were 
saved  from  sin;  and  their  lives  did  not  contradict  their  pro- 
fession. Most  of  the  rest  were  strongly  athirst  for  God,  and 
looking  for  him  continually.' 'J 

The  influence  of  example,  especially  of  religious  example, 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  70. 


t  Ibid.  p.  72.       +  Ibid.  p.  134. 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


15a 


is  undeniable.  Take  a  case  from  Mr.  Wesley's  Journal: 
^^Here  (Whitby)  I  found  a  lively  society  indeed  :  the  chief 
reason  of  their  liveliness  was  this : — Those  who  were  re- 
newed in  love,  (about  forty  in  number,)  continuing  fervent 
in  spirit  and  zealous  for  God,  quickened  the  rest,  and  were 
a  blessing  to  all  around  them/^*  Beyond  all  doubt, 
nothing  is  more  encouraging  to  one  groaning  after  a  deeper 
work  of  grace,  than  to  see  a  higher  state  exemplified  in 
others  around  him,  and  with  whom  he  has  occasional  reli- 
gious intercourse.  Nor  is  any  thing  more  comforting  to 
one  weak  and  weary,  than  to  feel  that  not  only  Christ,  but 
his  people,  help  to  bear  his  burden,  care  for  him,  watch 
over  him  in  love,  advise  and  exhort  him  from  time  to  time, 
and  pray  with  him,  and  for  him,  as  he  has  need.  It  can 
scarce  be  conceived,^^  says  Mr.  Wesley,  ^^what  advantages 
have  been  reaped  from  this  little  prudential  regulation,  (the 
class  meeting.)  Many  now  happily  experienced  that  Chris- 
tian fellowship  of  which  they  had  not  so  much  as  an  idea 
before.  They  began  to  ^  bear  one  another's  burdens,^  and 
naturally  to  ^  care  for  each  other.'  As  they  had  daily  ar 
more  intimate  acquaintance  with,  so  they  had  a  more  en- 
deared affection  for,  each  other.  And,  speaking  the  truth 
in  love,  they  grew  up  into  him  in  all  things,  who  is  the 
Head,  even  Christ;  from  whom  the  whole  body,  fitly  joined 
together,  and  compacted  by  that  which  every  joint  supplied, 
according  to  the  effectual  working  in  the  measure  of  every 
part,  increased  unto  the  edifying  itself  in  love.'  ^'f  Each 
class  is  built  up  in  its  most  holy  faith,  delivered  from  temp- 
tations out  of  which  they  saw  no  way  of  escape,  rejoicing 
in  the  Lord  more  abundantly,  and  effectually  provoking 
each  other,  throughout  the  family  of  classes  in  any  particu- 
lar station  or  circuit,  to  abound  in  every  good  word  and 
work. 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  380. 


t  Ibid.  vol.  V.  p.  180. 


154 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


Society^  whether  political,  commercial^  civil,  conventional, 
or  benevolent,  is  founded  upon  the  social  nature  of  man. 
But  nowhere  is  society  so  exalted  as  in  the  church  of  God. 
God  made  man  social,  in  the  purest  sense;  incorporating,  in 
his  original  nature,  all  the  elements  required  to  constitute 
the  holiest  society.  The  church  is  designed  to  effect  a 
universal  harmony  and  fellowship,  and  every  well-regulated 
and  holy  society  of  Christians  is  a  type  of  the  general 
result.  In  the  church  there  is  less  of  moral  evil,  and  less 
of  its  effects,  than  in  other  societies;  the  members  are 
united  to  one  another  by  ties  of  love,  permanent  as  the 
soul ;  each  member  united  to  Christ,  and  one  with  him,  the 
Head,  as  he  is  one  with  the  Father;  and  hence,  next  to 
communion  with  God,  is  the  communion  of  saints.  A  pro- 
found import  of  baptism,  the  external  seal  of  the  everlast- 
ing covenant,  is  Christian  fellowship  ;  and  when  all  nations 
are  regenerated  and  baptized,  whatever  may  be  their  eccle- 
siastical differences,  they  will  form  one  grand  Christian 
society.  Mutual  love  in  the  class-room  promotes  this  fellow- 
ship. Mutual  acquaintance  with  each  other  is  thus 
formed ;  the  leader  is  the  friend  and  adviser  of  all ;  and 
among  the  members,  by  their  praying  with  and  for  each 
other  so  often,  the  ^  true  fellowship  of  saints  is  promoted."* 
Sublime  the  vision  of  millennial  love  and  fellowship  ! 

4.  It  is  a  most  powerful  method  of  preserving  the  church 
against  lukewarmness  and  formality.  There  is  nothing 
attractive  in  the  class  meeting  to  the  formalist.  In  public 
worship,  in  hearing  the  word,  in  receiving  the  sacraments, 
he  may  borrow  a  Christian  name,  and  fill  up  his  place  with 
worldly  advantage  and  credit ;  and  in  ordinary  conversation, 
on  the  general  history,  doctrines,  and  advantages  of  Chris- 
tianity, he  may  express  his  admiration,  and  display  his 
talents ;  but  when  he  is  required  to  disclose  his  own  reli- 


*  Watson's  Life  of  Wesley,  p.  96. 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


155 


gious  experience^  and  relate  candidly  and  humbly  the  pro- 
gress of  spiritual  life  in  his  own  soul,  he  is  either  tortured 
into  negative  and  evasive  answers,  or  dissimulates  a  piety 
corresponding  to  his  pretensions.  He  cannot  endure  the 
heart-searching  examination  which  discriminates  between 
what  he  is^  and  what  he  hnoios  and  professes ;  and  so  he  is 
seldom  found  at  class  meeting.  Nor  is  that  all :  conscious 
of  his  destitution  of  experimental  knowledge,  and  compelled 
to  repress  all  high  pretensions  to  piety,  he  is  never  found 
heartily  engaged  in  special  religious  meetings,  as  in  times  of 
revival,  and  so  he  contents  himself  as  a  decent  hearer  of  the 
Word,  as  a  devout  observer  of  the  sacrament,  and  as  a  sup- 
porter of  the  general  objects  of  Christianity,  to  which  he 
contributes  his  money  and  influence,  and  that,  too,  in  order 
to  maintain  a  fair  reputation  as  an  avowed  friend  of  the 
church.  A  proper  observance  of  the  class  meeting  would 
soon  either  cure  or  remove  this  evil  from  the  church;  for 
formalists  then  would  shortly  become  what  they  ought  to 
be,  or  retire  from  the  church  because  they  will  not  consent 
to  become  what  they  are  required  to  be. 

And  so  of  lukewarm  professors.  Formerly,  loving  God 
and  happy  in  his  service,  they  were  fond  of  their  class. 
But  degenerating  in  spiritual  life  and  comfort,  cultivating 
daily  the  love  of  riches  and  pleasure,  and  daily  neglecting 
repentance  before  God,  very  naturally  at  length  it  became 
-  exceedingly  disagreeable  to  relate  the  state  of  their  heart 
to  others.  They  are  now  subjects  of  a  most  painful  con- 
flict; the  strivings  of  the  Spirit  and  the  remains  of  the 
carnal  mind  are  in  commotion.  Pride,  self-esteem,  and 
love  of  the  world  are  in  constant  contention  with  the  obli- 
gations of  humility,  love  of  God,  and  love  of  his  service. 
And  so  the  lukewarm  are  fruitful  in  excuses  for  the  neglect 
of  class :  pressure  and  hurry  of  business,  slight  indisposi- 
tion^ unfavorable  weather,  engagements  with  company, 
unexpected  occurrences,  and  such-like  impediments,  afford 


156 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


a  temporary  pacification  of  their  conscience,  and  become  the 
jflimsy  apologies  for  their  absence.  This  sad  state  of  things 
should  not  continue  long;  for,  despairing  themselves  of 
receiving  any  good,  and  their  brethren  of  doing  them  any 
good,  they  should  either  quietly  withdraw  from  the  church, 
or  be  prudently  discontinued,  lest  the  societies  with  which 
they  are  associated  degenerate  into  the  ordinary  state  of 
mere  formal  churches.  The  lukewarm  professor,  however, 
is  a  case  the  most  difficult  to  reach  by  a  course  of  discipline, 
and  there  is  no  process  so  suitable  to  reclaim  him  as  the 
social  service  of  the  classes.  This  means  is  a  test  of  the 
spirituality  of  our  church;  and  that  church  which  is  in  the 
habitual  neglect  of  it  is  in  a  worldly,  lukewarm  state, 
apply  the  test  where  and  when  you  will.  And  revival  of 
spirituality  can  only  be  secured  by  returning  to  the  true  and 
original  design  of  this  prominent  and  indispensable  institu- 
tion of  Methodism. 

5.  It  is  the  principal  means  through  which  the  ministry 
of  our  church  obtain  information  of  the  people^s  spiritual 
state  and  experience.  This,  at  large,  has  already  been  con- 
sidered; but  the  subject  is  so  important  that  a  few  words 
may  be  added.  An  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  spiritual 
character  of  the  classes  enables  the  pastor  to  apply  the 
promises  or  the  warnings,  the  admonitions  or  the  counsels 
of  the  gospel,  as  occasion  may  require;  to  ascertain  how 
believers  were  edified  and  comforted,  strengthened  and  con- 
firmed under  his  preaching;  how  the  tempted  were  sup- 
ported and  relieved ;  how  the  doubting  were  encouraged, 
and  their  hopes  revived ;  how  the  backslidden  were  arrested 
and  reclaimed;  how  the  lukewarm  were  aroused  and  re- 
animated; and  how  sinners  were  awakened  and  renewed. 
By  hearing  experience,  he  cultivates  his  abilities  to  preach, 
and  repairs  to  the  pulpit  with  the  warmest  sympathies  and 
the  liveliest  vigor,  and  preaches  with  a  potency  he  n§ver 
could  have  acquired  by  the  most  extensive  reading  and 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


157 


intense  study;  exposing  the  conscience,  refuting  objections, 
adducing  arguments,  presenting  motives,  and  describing 
each  case  before  him  with  astonishing  exactitude  and 
astounding  effect,  as  if  he  had  received  previously  particular 
information  of  every  member  of  his  congregation ;  ever  and 
anon  striking  skilfully  some  common  cord  that  vibrates 
throughout  the  whole  assembly,  and  impressing  all  with 
profound  silence  and  amazement  as  their  hearts  are  laid 
bare  in  the  powerful  light  of  the  gospel.  He  is  now  a 
workman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed  or  afraid,  for  he 
is  fully  the  master  of  his  subject  in  its  sublime  and  exact 
adaptation  to  his  flock  before  him.  Every  truth  he  utters 
is  a  sharp  and  barbed  arrow,  a  nail  in  a  sure  place,  a 
piercing  stroke  of  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  a  crushing  blow 
of  the  hammer  of  omnipotence,  a  penetrating  beam  of 
celestial  light,  clear  and  bright  as  noonday,  a  current  of  fire 
that  melts,  expands,  and  purifies,  a  motive  that  absorbs  the 
entire  being  of  the  hearer  in  the  boundless  and  ^ ndless 
future.  Sublime  work  !  Compared  with  this,  what  are 
even  judicious  explanations  and  beautiful  illustrations  of  the 
Scriptures,  that  may  indeed  instruct  and  charm  the  refined, 
and  acquire  for  the  orator  the  fame  of  an  orthodox  and 
popular  speaker !  Without  this,  melody  of  voice,  graces  of 
elocution,  beauty  of  rhetoric,  cogency  of  logic,  and  the 
most  profound  learning,  are  but  the  splendid  appendages 
<with  which  human  invention  vainly,  and  sometimes  with 
good  intention,  attempts  to  adorn  and  elevate  the  spirituality 
of  the  gospel. 

And,  added  to  all  this,  class  meetings  contribute  greatly 
to  a  mutual  endearment  between  the  pastor  and  his  flock. 
Mutual  acquaintance  and  familiarity  will  encourage  the 
people  to  disclose  their  spiritual  doubts  and  troubles  to 
their  pastor,  which  will  not  be  done  when  he  is  a  stranger 
to  them ;  and  how,  then,  can  he  do  them  much  good,  or  he 
care  much  for  them,  or  they  for  him  ? 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


6.  They  prepare  the  church  for  the  hetter  understanding 
of  the  preaching.  By  the  personal  intercourse  of  the  pastor 
with  the  classeS;  and  through  the  information  he  obtains 
from  the  leaders,  he  is  better  prepared  to  select  appropriate 
subjects  for  preaching.  The  leaders,  likewise  instructed  by 
the  preaching,  are  enabled  to  instruct  their  classes,  and  so 
prepare  them  the  better  to  understand  the  preacher  :  the 
leaders  convey  from  the  preacher  instruction  to  their  classes, 
and  then  bring  their  classes,  with  their  minds  and  hearts 
prepared  to  receive  instruction  from  the  public  ministration 
of  the  Word.  Otherwise,  much  of  the  public  labor  must 
be  lost.  This  is  one  reason,  doubtless,  why  so  often  sermons 
are  heard  without  interest  or  profit ;  they  are  inappropriate ; 
the  preacher  knows  not  exactly  what  will  be  appropriate, 
and  he  must  select  to  fill  up  the  time.  There  is  a  connec- 
tion between  the  pulpit  and  the  class-room;  the  one  pre- 
pares the  better  for  the  other ;  and  the  duties  of  both  should 
be  so  performed  that  the  church  shall  go  from  the  pulpit 
with  a  new  interest  to  the  class-room,  and  come  from  the 
class-room  with  a  new  interest  to  the  services  of  the  pulpit 


CHAPTER  II. 


BENEFITS  CONTINUED. 

1.  Class  meetings  are  a  most  powerful  help  to  young 
Christians,  and  that,  too,  at  a  time  when  they  need  help  the 
most.  Stability,  in  a  great  measure,  depends  upon  the  in- 
cipient stages  of  spiritual  life ;  then,  as  in  the  infancy  of 
the  natural  body,  a  weak  or  strong  constitution  is  formed. 
The  church  cannot  devote  too  much  care  to  the  babes  in 
Christ,''  and  our  church  has  no  better  means  in  nursing 
them  than  the  class  meeting — none,  indeed,  so  good.  The 
young  Christian  soon  finds  his  feeble  resolutions  unequal  to 
the  force  of  habits  formed  before  conversion,  and  the  power 
of  temptation,  ever  recurring  in  old  modes  or  new  ones; 
and  unless  he  promptly  and  habitually  seek  support  from 
the  religious  communion  of  the  class-room,  seldom  can  he 
endure  the  first  revival  of  evil  habit  or  resist  the  first  as- 
sault of  temptation;  and  shortly  he  will  relapse  into  his 
former  sins.  Without  the  repeated  counsel  and  admonition 
of  the  church,  such  as  the  class-room .  affords,  he  is  easily 
accessible  to  the  appeals  of  pleasing  and  lucrative  vices,  and 
wanders  alone  amid  invisible  dangers  and  insidious  snares 
that  surround  him  on  every  hand,  every  moment  liable  to 
fall  alone,  with  none  to  hold  him  up  when  he  is  falling,  and 
none  to  lift  him  up  when  he  falls.  Unsupported,  the  vows 
of  the  morning  are  violated  before  the  evening,  and  remorse 
for  recent  guilt  is  so  discouraging,  that  ordinarily  the  only 
relief  he  feels  is  in  the  resolution,  I  will  repent  and  do 
better  to-morrow;''  and,  to-morrow,  weakness,  disappoint- 
ment and  fear  ensue,  and  matters  are  worse.     Had  he 

m 


160  BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 

mingled  with  God's  people,  he  might  have  fulfilled  his  vows, 
or  had  he  fallen,  he  might  have  recovered ;  but  by  hiding 
his  failures,  he  had  to  contend  with  them  alone,  and  by 
concealing  his  good  desires,  he  took  the  most  eflPectual 
method  to  extinguish  them  altogether. 

A  change  of  heart  requires  a  change  of  company,  corres- 
ponding in  character  and  example  to  the  new  nature,  whose 
affectionate  care  and  consideration  shall  defend  young  Chris^ 
tians  especially  against  their  besetting  sins,  strengthen  them 
to  resist  temptation,  and  inspire  their  good  desires  with 
strength  and  vigor.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness first  to  divide,  and  then  devour.  Eve  was  deceived 
and  destroyed  in  the  absence  of  Adam  ;  Peter  denied  J esus 
in  company  of  the  wicked ;  and  young  Christians  ordinarily 
take  the  first  step  in  returning  to  the  world  in  abandoning 
the  company  and  communion  of  saints.  It  is  a  most  difficult 
matter  sometimes  for  the  truly  penitent  sinner,  with  all  the 
aid  of  the  church  and  of  divine  grace  in  a  powerful  revival, 
to  relinquish  the  world,  subdue  self,  vanquish  Satan,  and 
obtain  pardon ;  and  nothing  conceivable  is  easier  than  the 
fall  and  recapture  of  the  young  convert  when  left  alone  in 
the  camp  of  his  numerous  and  mighty  enemies.  Every 
young  Christian  may  clearly  infer  from  the  great  help  he 
received  from  the  church  in  conversion,  how  indispensable 
is  the  help  of  the  church  to  aid  him  in  pursuing  his  new 
and  untried  career.  He  is  weak,  and  needs  support ;  he  is 
ignorant,  and  needs  instruction ;  he  is  inexperienced,  and 
needs  counsel ;  he  is  fearful,  and  needs  encouragement ;  he 
be  is  inconsistent,  and  needs  restraints ;  he  is  but  a  babe  in 
Christ,  and  just  as  much  needs  the  care  of  the  church,  to 
rear  him  to  spiritual  manhood,  as  the  infant  does  that  of 
his  mother  to  raise  and  prepare  him  for  this  life. 

Whenever  the  young  Christian  voluntarily  neglects  the 
class  meeting,  he  takes  the  first  certain  step  either  for  a 
speedy  return  to  the  world,  or  in  the  certain  direction  to  a 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


161 


life  of  lukewarmness  and  formality :  in  either  case,  incalcu- 
lable danger  accumulates  with  every  neglect.  No  doubt  the 
vast  amount  of  backsliding,  and  the  vast  extent  of  formality 
and  worldliness  in  many  places  in  our  church,  are  to  be  as- 
cribed chiefly  to  the  general  neglect  of  this  means  of  grace. 
It  is  painful  to  witness  these  results  from  any  source,  but 
that  they  should  flow  from  mere  neglect,  which  might  be  so 
easily  corrected,  is  just  occasion  of  great  surprise  and  deep  * 
regret.  The  first  time  the  young  Christian  enters  the  class- 
room, let  him  rest  assured  that  he  has  entered,  as  a  Method- 
ist, upon  the  only  path  that  can  secure  him  against  back- 
sliding or  formality,  and  conduct  him  into  the  bright  and 
fruitful  fields  of  spiritual  life.  Here  let  him  take  his  stand, 
and  here  let  the  ministry,  leaders,  and  members  stand  by 
him. 

How  little  do  most  Christians,  especially  young  Christians, 
know  of  the  purity  and  extent  of  the  divine  law ;  of  the 
suitableness,  preciousness,  unchangeableness,  and  proper 
use  of  the  divine  promises ;  of  the  force,  beauty,  harmony, 
tendency,  and  issue  of  Christian  obligation;  of  the  ofiices 
of  Christ,  as  prophet,  priest,  and  king;  of  the  offices  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  convincing,  humbling,  comforting,  assist- 
ing, and  directing;  of  the  devices  of  Satan,  his  strength, 
his  ingenuity,  his  cruelty,  his  vigilance,  his  agents,  and 
modes  of  attack;  of  ourselves,  our  weakness,  instability, 
ignorance,  presumption,  and  necessities;  and  of  what  God 
has  done  for  eminent  saints,  and  what  he  is  willing  to  do  * 
for  us!  And  yet  all  these  may  be  known  by  frequent  in- 
tercourse with  deeply  pious  and  experienced  Christians, 
who  will  teach  and  direct  us  in  the  ways  of  God  more  per- 
fectly. Ignorant,  for  example,  of  the  progress  of  spiritual 
things,  those  who  just  begin  to  feel  their  want  of  mercy, 
and  contend  with  the  in-being  of  sin,  ordinarily  suppose 
that  their  case  is  singular,  which  exposes  them  to  many  • 
doubts  and  fears  and  the  most  violent  assaults  of  Satan 
14* 


162 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


But  communion  with  the  experienced  people  of  God  soon 
convinces  them  that  their  case  is  not  uncommon;  the  devices 
of  Satan  are  detected,  his  snares  avoided,  courage  is  excited, 
hope  revived,  faith  strengthened,  and  timidity,  doubt,  and 
darkness  vanish  away. 

2.  They  afford  penitents  a  great  help  in  seeking  religion. 
This  seems  to  have  been  originally  the  principal  design  of 
the  societies^^  instituted  by  Mr.  Wesley,  and  it  is  so  stated 
in  the  language  of  our  Discipline  :  There  is  only  one  con- 
dition previously  required  of  those  who  desire  admission 
into  these  societies,  '  a  desire  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come, 
and  to  be  saved  from  their  sins.'  Often,  in  his  Journal, 
Mr.  Wesley  refers  to  the  societies  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
leave  it  clearly  inferrible  that  the  large  majority  in  them 
were  merely  seekers  of  religion.  As,  for  instance :  In  the 
hours  between,  I  took  the  opportunity  of  speaking  to  the 
members  of  the  society.  In  three  months  here  (Colchester) 
are  joined  together  a  hundred  and  twenty  persons.  A  few 
of  these  know  in  whom  they  have  believed,  and  many  are 
sensible  of  their  wants. '^f  In  the  class  meeting,  where  reli- 
gious experience  is  the  only  subject  of  consideration,  and 
the  expression  of  it  is  so  plain  and  simple,  it  is  easy  to  see 
how  readily  an  earnest  and  sincere  penitent  may  obtain  in- 
struction and  encouragement ;  as  when  those  who  are  deeply 
acquainted  with  spiritual  things  refer  to  the  discouragements 
they  encountered,  the  struggles  they  endured,  the  self-denial 
they  had  to  exercise,  the  duties  they  had  to  perform,  and 
the  long,  dark  night  of  trial  they  had  to  pass,  before  they 
found  forgiveness  of  sin.  And  then  the  impressive  sacred- 
ness  of  the  occasion,  the  singular  appropriateness  of  the 
songs  and  prayers,  the  tender  sympathies  of  Christians,  and 
the  instructions  of  the  pious  leader,  all  contribute  greatly  to 
aid  in  the  solemn  work  of  repentance  and  faith.    In  the 


*  Discipline,  p.  23,  edition  1846. 


f  Journal,  vol.  iv.  p.  11, 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


163 


suspension  of  temporal  business,  in  the  absence  of  the  world, 
and  in  the  presence  of  Christ  and  his  people,  the  whole  soul 
of  the  penitent  may  easily  concentrate  itself  upon  being 
now  saved  from  sin.  Besides,  persons  awakened  under  some 
powerful  sermon,  or  during  a  revival,  by  immediately  join- 
ing the  class,  often  retain  their  religious  impressions,  and  so 
cultivate  and  improve  them,  as  soon  to  obtain  pardon,  and 
commence  a  new  and  spiritual  life,  and  so  at  last  are  saved ; 
whereas,  had  they  declined  this  privilege,  they  would  have 
relapsed  into  worse  than  their  former  insensibility,  and  so 
at  last  probably  been  lost.  Specially  suitable  as  a  means  of 
grace  is  the  class  meeting  to  those  who  are  awakened  under 
the  preaching  of  an  itinerant  ministry.  When  the  stirring 
appeals  of  the  preacher  are  ended,  and  he  is  gone  to  another 
part  of  his  work ;  when  the  exciting  scenes  of  a  revival  are 
over,  and  the  church  has  returned  to  its  ordinary  and  regu- 
lar services;  when  the  promiscuous  multitude  has  retired 
from  the  house  of  God,  and  distributed  itself  among  conge- 
nial pursuits ;  then,  in  the  class-room,  where  the  ardor  of 
religion  still  glows,  and  the  blessed  results  of  the  revival  are 
more  immediately  and  specially  seen,  the  awakened  sinner 
may  still  enjoy  a  lively  communion  with  the  people  of  God, 
and  derive  important  help  from  the  faithful  leader.  The 
leader  now,  in  an  important  sense,  takes  the  place  of  the 
preacher,  and  supplies  his  absence. 

We  have  said  that  originally  the  Wesleyan  societies  were 
composed  principally  of  awakened  persons,  and  this  is  uni-  # 
versal  still  with  the  societies  in  England  in  the  present  day. 
In  the  recent  great  revival  in  England,  under  the  labors  of 
Mr.  Caughey,  thousands  were  converted  who  were  already 
members  of  the  church.  In  our  own  church,  especially  in 
the  South  and  West,  hundreds  are  converted,  from  time  to 
time,  who  had  been  received  into  the  church  as  seekers  of 
religion,  and  ordinarily  now  many  are  received  as  such  in 
times  of  revival.    And  in  times  of  revival,  in  the  South 


164 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


and  West;  it  is  not  unfrequently  tlie  case  that  persons  who 
for  years  had  been  associated  with  the  church  as  seekers  of 
religion^  approach  the  altar^  and  obtain  the  blessedness  of 
pardon.  It  were  well  if  this  custom  universally  prevailed ; 
it  were  well  if  ordinarily  after  the  sermon,  that  is,  such  a 
sermon  as  is  truly  awakening,  the  preacher  would  give  an 
opportunity  to  awakened  persons  to  join  the  society;  for 
this  would  be  the  restoration  of  primitive  Methodism.  It 
is  not  assumed  that  systematic  and  protracted  meetings 
shourd  be  dispensed  with,  for  no  one  can  estimate  the  im- 
mense good  that  has  resulted  from  these  meetings,  and  they 
should  be  continued ;  but  we  mean,  where  a  religious  meet- 
ing cannot  be  conveniently  protracted,  or  on  all  proper  occa- 
sions, the  primitive  custom  should  prevail.  Nor  do  we  think 
it  wise  or  proper  that  seekers  of  religion  should  be  received 
into  full  membership  after  six  months'  probation,  unless  in 
that  time  they  have  obtained  regeneration ;  yet  they  may 
be  continued  in  association  with  the  class  till  this  great  work 
is  effected.  Mr.  Wesley  formed  his  societies  in  the  church 
of  England,  and  he  continued  seekers  of  religion  in  them 
for  no  specific  time,  but  just  so  long  as  they  maintained  the 
form,  and  sought  the  power  of  godliness.  In  like  man- 
ner, seekers  of  religion  may  be  continued  on  probation  so 
long  as  they  observe  the  General  Rules  of  our  United 
Societies,"*  or  until  they  obtain  the  experimental  know- 
ledge of  sins  forgiven,  when  they  may  be  received  into  full 
membership. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  in  process  of  time,  wherever  the 
class  meeting  had  fallen  into  disuse,  the  custom  of  receiving 
awakened  persons  on  trial  was  discontinued,  because  now 
this  principal  means  of  promoting  religious  impressions  was 
abandoned.  In  many  places  in  our  church  the  reception  of 
an  awakened  person  on  trial  seldom  occurs.    Long  since,  in 


^  Discipline,  1854,  p.  29. 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


165 


some  places,  this  custom  has  been  wholly  abandoned.  And 
in  many  places,  nevertheless,  where  it  is  still  observed,  but 
little  advantage,  if  any,  is  derived,  because  the  class  meet- 
ing is  not  perpetuated  and  observed  in  its  original  vigor  and 
spirit.  What  inducement  is  there  for  an  awakened  person 
to  associate  himself  with  a  church,  on  trial,  in  which  this 
means  of  grace  no  longer  exists,  or  is  considered  as  of  little 
moment,  or  is  observed  with  but  little  interest  ? 

3.  Class  meetings  prepare  the  church  for  conducting  re- 
vivals. In  the  first  place,  the  leaders  are  here  prepared  to 
act  a  most  efficient  part  in  revivals,  and  they  compose  a  large 
proportion  of  the  strong,  influential,  and  spiritual  men  of 
our  church.  Having  attained  a  high  degree  of  experimental 
religion,  and  acquired,  by  the  exercises  of  the  class-room,  a 
great  facility  to  instruct,  exhort,  comfort,  strengthen,  and 
warn  others,  they  are  prepared  to  labor  efficiently  in  revivals. 
They  are  acquainted  with  the  people  generally,  and  with 
their  classes  particularly;  and  hence,  if  faithful,  they  exert 
a  greater  influence  over  the  people  and  their  classes,  and  the 
church,  than  private  members  ordinarily  can  do.  They  feel 
a  deeper  interest  in  the  welfare  of  their  classes,  and  are  more 
anxious  that  they  all  should  enjoy  and  engage  actively  in 
the  work  of  revival.  These  are  the  principal  men  to  pray 
for  a  revival,  to  labor  in  a  revival,  to  seek  out,  encourage, 
and  bring  penitents  to  the  altar  in  time  of  revival ;  and  to 
sing,  and  pray,  and  instruct  them  at  the  altar ;  and  then  to 
take  care  of  them  when  converted.  These  are  the  men  on 
whom  we  depend  principally  for  the  efficiency  of  our  re- 
vivals. I  do  not  know  how  we  could  dispense  with  them  in 
revivals.  How  much  the  class-leaders  contribute  to  making 
the  Methodist  Church  a  revival  church  no  one  can  estimate. 
No  wonder  other  churches  generally  are  so  unskilled  and 
inefficient  in  revivals.  They  have  no  men  like  these  leaders 
to  bring  forward  into  battle ;  no  class  of  men  like  them  to 
engage  in  the  work  of  revival.    Each  leader,  accustomed 


166 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


long  to  guide,  conducts  his  class  into  tlie  battle-field,  and 
shouts  them  forward  to  the  contest.  There  is  the  leader  in 
the  hottest  of  the  battle ;  yes,  there  he  is,  and  the  faithful 
class  is  certain  to  rally  around  him.  It  is  impossible  to 
conceive  of  a  better  battle-array  of  the  sacramental  host  in 
time  of  a  revival  than  the  leaders  with  their  classes  arranged 
around  the  standard  of  Christ.  May  Grod  bless  the  leaders 
a  thousand  fold  with  the  power  of  faith  and  prayer,  and 
thus  render  our  revivals  in  the  same  proportion  more  exten- 
sive and  powerful !  It  is  a  matter  of  deep  regret,  however, 
that  in  many  places,  the  leaders  have  so  long  neglected  their 
classes,  that  they  are  weak  as  other  men  in  times  of  revival; 
and  the  classes  have  so  long  neglected  their  leaders,  that 
they  rather  need  reviving  themselves,  than  they  are  prepared 
to  engage  in  reviving  others ;  that  their  leaders  feel  com- 
paratively little  concern  for  them,  and  can  exert  but  little 
influence  over  them.  This  general  neglect  of  the  class 
meeting  is,  doubtless,  the  reason  why  in  many  places  revivals 
are  so  rare,  or,  when  they  do  occur,  they  are  so  brief  and 
feeble.  May  God  rouse  these  dead-hearted  and  inactive 
leaders  and  classes  wherever  they  exist,  that  then  revivals 
may  break  out  and  expand  like  fire  in  dry  stubble  in  every 
part  of  the  church,  for  then  the  leaders  and  the  classes  will 
be  prepared  to  labor  in  revivals,  and  to  take  care  of  souls 
when  converted !  Then  it  would  not  take,  as  now,  in  some 
places  it  does,  three  or  four  days'  or  a  week's  hard  labor  to 
begin  a  revival ;  for  the  hardest  part  of  the  work  now  is 
to  get  the  church  right,  and  ready  for  the  work.  They  have 
neglected  their  ordinary  religious  duties  with  respect  to 
themselves  so  long,  that  it  is  impossible  to  excite  them  to 
feel  much  for  others  before  they  begin  to  feel  for  themselves. 
But  the  church,  in  any  place,  being  prepared  for  work, 
revival  would  commence  with  the  first  earnest  efforts,  and 
progress  with  astonishing  ease,  rapidity,  and  power.  God 
help  us ! 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


167 


In  the  second  place,  the  classes  are  prepared  in  the  class- 
room to  labor  most  efficiently  in  revivals.  This  is  so  obvi- 
ous, that  we  need  but  mention  it,  and  express  our  regret 
that  the  churches,  in  many  places,  have  neglected  this  means 
of  revival-energy,  which  is  the  reason  why  they  so  seldom 
have  a  revival  of  much  extent.  On  the  whole,  we  conclude, 
no  other  regulation  of  Methodism,  except  its  itinerancy^ 
prepares  the  church  so  well  to  labor  in  revivals  as  the  class 
meeting,  and  we  believe  that  the  spirit  of  revival  will  flou- 
rish or  decline  in  proportion  as  the  class  meeting  is  observed 
or  neglected.  And  if  this  be  so,  as  it  most  certainly  is,  the 
most  solemn  responsibility  rests  upon  the  church  to  revive 
the  institution  where  it  has  been  neglected,  and  to  perpe- 
tuate it  where  it  has  been  observed.  If  our  church  be  not 
replenished  with  the  fruits  of  revivals,  it  must  soon  pass 
away  from  the  earth ;  and  what  must  be  the  indifference  of 
that  Methodist  who  can  survey  the  issue  without  concern  ?  or 
what  must  be  the  punishment  of  him  who  promotes  that 
issue  by  his  neglect  ? 


CHAPTER  III. 


BENEFITS  CONTINUED. 

1.  The  class  meeting  has  all  the  advantages  of  a  verbal 
relation  of  religious  experience.  There  is  something  in  the 
tone  of  voice  and  manner  of  the  sincere  Christian  which 
excites  a  degree  of  sympathy,  tenderness,  and  conviction, 
that  no  written  statements  can  excite.  The  eloquence  of 
the  tongue  infinitely  surpasses  that  of  the  pen  or  of  type. 
With  delight  and  profit  we  read  graphic  and  elegant  biogra- 
phical sketches  of  religious  men,  as  well  as  excellent  books 
on  religious  experience;  but  with  how  much  greater  delight 
would  we  have  listened  to  the  glowing  statements  as  they 
fell  from  the  lips  of  the  living  authors  and  good  men,  ac- 
companied with  corresponding  expressions  of  countenance 
and  tones  of  voice  !  Could  Christians  now  assemble  with 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  see  them,  and  hear  them,  as 
they  utter  the  very  expressions  now  contained  in  the  Bible, 
no  language  can  describe  the  difference  in  the  impression 
that  would  be  made.  Could  we  meet  with  Wesley  and  the 
first  Methodist  preachers,  and  Jiear  their  instructions,  and 
descriptions  of  their  trials,  and  difficulties,  and  temptations, 
and  faith,  and  love,  and  religious  attainments,  it  is  easy  to 
see  how  much  more  intense  would  be  our  feelings  than  it 
is  possible  for  them  to  become  from  a  most  careful  reading 
of  their  writings.  A  prayer,  a  sermon,  advice,  counsel, 
admonition  heard,  are  much  more  powerful  than  when  read. 
What  description  of  holy  praise  can  produce  the  feelings 
excited  by  hearing  it  ?    Impressions  made  in  religious  fel- 

168 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


169 


lowship  are  always  more  intense  and  lasting  than  can  be 
made  through  any  other  medium. 

"  The  characteristic  of  our  classes^  bandS;  and  love-feasts 
is  the  free  and  simple  communication  of  mutual  experience ; 
and  here,  in  the  judgment  of  some  of  the  wisest,  is  found 
their  unanswerable  plea.  Let  the  inquirer  see,  scattered 
over  the  writings  of  the  best  practical  divines,  admonitions 
to  the  effect  that  reserve  and  silence,  on  the  subject  of 
spiritual  exercises,  are  most  prejudicial;  that  the  devices  of 
Satan  are  of  tenfold  difficulty  when  they  are  shrouded  in 
concealment ;  and  that  it  is  eminently  advantageous  to  hear 
and  tell  of  God^s  dealings  with  the  soul.  The  world  may 
direct  against  those  who  ^  speak  often  one  to  another'  its 
impotent  scorn ;  but  they  are  abundantly  compensated  by 
the  sweetness  of  the  social  privilege,  and  the  ^joys  with 
which  a  stranger  intermeddleth  not.'  ''"^ 

2.  Furnish  advantages  to  several  classes  of  Christians 
that  require  unremitted  and  the  most  diligent  care.  There 
are  the  young  and  the  weak,  who  are  generally  content  with 
low  attainments  in  grace,  and  who,  in  our  church,  without 
the  constant  care  of  the  leader,  would  rarely,  we  have  said, 
get  higher  than  their  first  love,''  and  in  most  cases  lose 
that.  It  is  no  easy  matter  to  increase  any  Christians  in 
knowledge  and  gifts,  and  it  is  the  most  difficult  of  all  to  in- 
crease them  in  graces.  Hence,  their  love  should  be  kept 
constantly  burning,  their  faith  constantly  strengthening,  their 
regard  for  the  honors  and  pleasures  and  profits  of  the  world 
constantly  decreasing,  their  affection  for  the  cause  of  Christ 
and  for  the  brethren  constantly  increasing,  and  their  obliga- 
tion to  suffer  joyfully  for  Christ's  sake,  to  walk  inoffensively 
and  harmlessly  before  men,  to  abstain  from  the  appearance 
of  evil,  and  to  imbue  all  their  conduct  with  a  sweet  mixture 
of  all  the  graces  of  the  Christian,  be  ever  kept  prominently 


^  Wes,  Meth.  Mag.  1841.  Ser.,  Methodism  not  Heresy,  p.  649, 
15 


170 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


before  fclieir  minds;  and  the  young  will  soon  become  experi- 
enced, and  the  weak  strong,  in  the  life  and  service  of  Christ. 

Then  there  are  those  who  are  laboring  under  some  par- 
ticular corruption;  and  there  are  very  many  of  this  sort  in 
the  church.  Pride  predominates  over  other  corruptions  in 
some,  vanity  in  others,  love  of  pleasure  in  others,  love  of 
money  in  others,  worldly  ambition  in  others,  sensual  desires 
in  others,  forwardness  in  others,  irratibility  in  others,  levity 
in  others,  envy  in  others,  jealousy  in  others,  maliciousness 
in  others,  covetousness  in  others,  penuriousness  in  others, 
prodigality  in  others,  deceit  in  others,  insincerity  in  others, 
resentment  in  others,  impatience  in  others,  self-righteous- 
ness in  others  :  in  a  word,  every  Christian,  in  a  regenerate 
state,  finds  remaining  in  him,  though  subdued,  some  par- 
ticular corruption  still  struggling,  which  was  prominent  in 
the  corruptions  of  his  heart  before  conversion,  and  which 
will  remain  there  till  he  is  sanctified..  Each  of  these  cases 
requires  a  particular  assistance,  in  order  to  a  complete  con- 
quest ;  and  when  they  submit  to  the  weekly  watch-care, 
and  directions  of  the  leader,  and  are  brought  weekly  into  as- 
sociation with  persons  eminent  for  godliness,  they  are  enabled 
to  make  the  clearest  discoveries  of  the  odiousness  of  sin, 
and  to  use  the  best  means  for  their  polishing  and  perfection. 

Then  there  are  declining  Christians,  who  have  lost  their 
first  love,  whose  zeal  and  diligence  have  abated,  and  who 
are  in  extreme  danger  of  entire  relapse  to  the  world.  Par- 
tial backsliding  tends  to  total  apostasy,  and,  without  special 
attention  and  special  grace,  will  speedily  result  in  it.  A 
spark  may  be  the  commencement  of  a  conflagration,  and 
disease,  unless  arrested  in  its  incipiency,  will  terminate  in 
death.  The  descent  of  the  crag  from  the  mountain  is  first 
slow,  then  rapid,  then  resistless.  Extinguish  the  spark, 
cure  the  disease  in  the  beginning,  stop  the  crag  in  the  mo- 
ment it  is  starting.  The  application  is  easy,  and  the  appli- 
cation is  made  best  practically  in  the  class  meeting. 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


171 


Then  there  are  adoaiicing  Christians,  who  must  be  as- 
sisted or  they  will  decline.  In  the  class  they  are  assisted  to 
preserve  what  they  have,  to  make  further  progress  upon  what 
they  obtain,  and  so  to  persevere  to  the  end.  They  are  pre- 
pared thus  for  the  service  of  Christ,  and  so  in  turn  assist 
their  brethren  to  engage  in  his  service. 

To  all  these  the  class  meeting  is  calculated  to  be  a  school 
of  instruction ;  a  book  by  the  way ;  a  refreshment-room  for 
travellers.  Here  the  disconsolate  Christian  is  directed  to 
the  God  of  all  consolation;  the  thirsty  soul  is  directed  to  ^the 
fountain  of  living  waters/  the  suffering  follower  of  the 
Saviour  meets  with  sympathy  from  fellow-sufferers,  and  the 
rejoicing  saint  meets  with  those  in  whose  breast  exists  the 
counterpart  of  his  own  feelings,  and  the  echo  of  his  owu 
joys.  Here  the  weary  traveller  is  refreshed,  and  starts  with 
new  vigor  on  his  journey  to  Canaan ;  and  the  tired  soldier 
is  rested  and  invigorated  for  the  campaign  of  to-morrow. 
Here  the  weakness  of  ^Little-faith'  is  strengthened,  the 
worldliness  of  ^Worldly-love'  is  chased  away,  the  cove- 
tousness  of  ^  Save-all '  is  melted  into  benevolence,  and  the 
duplicity  of  ^By-ends'  is  transformed  into  sterling  strait- 
forwardness.  Here  sluggishness  is  converted  into  activity, 
misanthropy  into  philanthropy,  tears  into  smiles,  sorrows 
into  joys,  sigbs  into  songs,  clouds  into  sunshine,  winter  into 
summer,  and  the  ^  fear  which  hath  torment'  into  ^perfect 
love,  which  casteth  out  fear.'  Class  meetings  are  the  little 
tents  of  Israel,  pitched  in  every  direction  around  the  mercy- 
seat  and  the  Shekinah,  for  the  refreshment  of  the  tribes 
during  their  wilderness  state.  '  How  goodly  are  thy  tents, 
0  Jacob,  and  thy  tabernacles,  0  Israel  !  As  the  valleys 
are  they  spread  forth  as  gardens  by  the  river-side,  as  the 
trees  of  lign-aloes  which  the  Lord  hath  planted,  and  as 
cedar- trees  beside  the  waters.  He  shall  pour  the  water  out 
of  his  bucket,  and  his  seed  shall  be  in  many  waters,  and 
his  king  shall  be  higher  than  Agag,  and  his  kingdom  shall 


172 


BENEFITS  ENUxMERATED. 


be  exalted.  Blessed  is  lie  that  blesseth  thee,  and  cursed  is 
he  that  curse th  thee  !' 

3.  They  are  the  best  help  in  our  church  against  the 
influence  of  the  world.  "  I  met  the  classes  at  Limerick/' 
says  Mr.  Wesley,  ^^and  found  a  considerable  decrease. 
And  how  can  it  be  otherwise,  when  vice  flows  as  a  torrent, 
unless  the  children  of  God  are  all  life,  zeal,  activity.' 
Life,  zeal;  and  activity  can  be  promoted  nowhere  better  than 
in  the  class-room ;  and  without  habitual  observance  of  the 
class  meeting,  life,  zeal,  and  activity  will  decline,  and  the 
soul  be  borne  away  by  the  torrent  of  fashion,  excitement, 
and  worldly  enterprise.  In  the  class-rocm,  the  danger  is 
exposed,  the  warning  given,  and  security  obtained.  On 
the  three  following  days,  I  spoke  severally  to  Jbhe  members 
of  the  society,  (in  Bristol.)  As  many  of  them  increase  in 
worldly  goods,  the  great  danger  I  apprehend  now  is  their 
relapsing  into  the  spirit  of  the  world ;  and  then  their  reli- 
gion is  but  a  dream.^'J 

Especially  in  an  age  like  this  is  the  class  meeting  in  the 
highest  degree  beneficial.  The  vast  and  varied  amplitude 
of  society  is  stirring  with  activity,  bustle,  and  enterprise ; 
politics,  commerce,  education,  and  circumstantial  religion 
are  all  bending  forward  under  the  influence  of  emulation, 
competition,  and  intense  excitement.  Steadiness,  principle, 
system,  self-denial,  retirement,  meditation,  are  comparatively 
unknown ;  and  the  contagion  has  spread  from  the  city  to 
the  country,  from  the  market  to  the  farms  of  men,  from  one 
end  to  the  other  of  the  civilized  world.  The  facilities  of 
science  have  but  contributed  to  heighten  the  excitement 
and  ferment.  Men  are  living  and  laboring  for  time  as  they 
should  for  eternity.  In  this  state  of  things,  the  formation 
of  a  symmetrical  religious  character  seems  impossible,  at 


*  London  Christ.  Miscellany. 

t  Wesley's  Works,  Journal,  vol.  iv.  p.  68. 


X  Ibid.  p.  77. 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


173 


least  is  most  difficult.  Eeligious  devotion  is  confined  almost 
entirely  to  the  Sabbath  day,  and  even  then  it  is  exercised 
in  a  weak  and  languishing  manner.  Men  are  in  such  haste 
to  be  wise  and  rich  in  this  world's  afikirs,  that  religious 
knowledge  is  almost  exclusively  acquired  from  the  pulpit. 
But  little  is  known  of  seclusion  and  the  deep  calm  of 
retirement;  in  which  man  most  easily  grasps  the  mighty 
truths  and  interests  of  his  being,  and  forms  the  great  pur- 
pose to  check  the  morbid,  versatile,  superficial,  and  unquiet 
spirit  of  the  age.  Just  here  the  class  meeting  comes  to  his 
help,  and  by  it  he  is  enabled  to  straighten  up  himself  and 
breathe  freely,  and  lean  the  other  way,  and  oppose  the 
tendencies  of  society  and  his  own  mind;  and  retire  from  the 
perplexing  scenes  and  strifes  around  him ;  and  subtract  some 
time  from  worldly  business  and  care  for  communion  with 
God  and  eternal  things;  and  examine  his  heart,  his  princi- 
ples, his  motives,  his  conduct,  and  his  accounts  with  God; 
and  then  go  forth  again  into  the  world,  desiring  nothing  in 
comparison  with  advancement  in  the  great  spiritual  work  of 
his  soul,  and  increasing  in  every  devout  and  holy  afi'ection, 
and  being  more  abundant  in  every  good  word  and  work. 

4.  Wherever  the  class  meeting  is  properly  and  regularly 
observed  the  church  is  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

It  is  a  matter  of  universal  observation  by  our  preachers, 
and  it  is  attested  by  all,  that  the  principal  supporters  of  our 
church  are  those  who  are  in  the  habitual  observance  of  this 
means  of  grace.  It  is  true,  ordinarily,  they  are  compara- 
tively few  in  number.  But  they  are  those  who  are  found 
regularly  at  the  weekly  prayer-meetings ;  who  are  regular 
in  observing  the  Sabbath  day ;  who  are  found  punctually  at 
the  sacrament;  who  are  present  and  generally  speak  in  the 
love-feasts;  who  are  found  near  the  altar,  and  labor  in 
revivals ;  who  principally  and  most  generously  support  the 
church,  and  maintain  its  benevolent  and  religious  enter- 
prises; who  are  most  steadfast  in  the  profession  of  the 

15* 


174 


BENEFITS  ETnUMERATED. 


faith;  whose  example  is  most  infiuential  and  beneficial; 
who  lead  the  most  consistent  lives ;  and  who  die  the  most 
happy  and  triumphant  deaths.  And  if  this  may  be  said  of 
a  small  proportion  of  any  of  our  churches,  what  would  be 
the  general  result  if  all  in  Methodism  observed  this  means 
of  grace  ?  The  church  then  would  constantly  enjoy  peace, 
union,  and  prosperity;  always  advance;  never  be  without 
the  spirit  of  revival,  either  in  the  membership  or  among 
the  unconverted ;  and  coldness,  deadness,  declension,  be 
unknown.  Such  societies  or  churches  existed  under  Mr. 
Wesley's  care.  In  the  afternoons,''  says  he,  ^^I  spoke  to 
the  members  of  the  society,  (in  Dublin.)  I  left  four  hun- 
dred and  forty,  and  find  above  five  hundred;  more  than 
ever  they  were  since  my  first  landing  in  the  kingdom. 
And  they  are  not  increased  in  number  only,  but  many  of 
them  are  rejoicing  in  the  pure  love  of  God;  and  many 
more  refuse  to  be  comfipiffed  till  they  can  witness  the  same 
confession.''*  Again  :  Here,  (Medros,)  likewise,  we  had 
an  agreeable  account  of  a  still-increasing  work  of  Grod. 
This  society  has  eighty-six  members,  and  all  rejoicing  in 
the  love  of  Grod.  Fifty-five  or  fifty-six  of  these  believe  he 
has  saved  them  from  all  sin ;  and  their  life  no  way  contra- 
dicts their  profession. "f  The  heart-searching,  instructive, 
and  encouraging  service  of  the  class  meeting  certainly  tends 
to  a  growth  in  grace,  and  hereby  believers  groan  constantly 
after  full  redemption ;  and  wherever  this  service  is  neglected 
backsliding  in  heart  ensues,  and  instances  of  sanctification 
are  unknown.  Even  preaching,  in  this  case,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  sanctification,  is  seldom  heard.  Says  Mr.  Wesley : 
Monday  SO,  and  the  two  following  days,  I  examined  the 
society  at  Bristol,  and  was  surprised  to  find  fifty  members 
fewer  than  I  left  in  it  last  October.  One  reason  is.  Christian 
perfection  has  been  little  insisted  on ;  and  wherever  this  is 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  216. 


t  Ibid.  p.  220. 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


175 


not  done,  be  the  preacher  ever  so  eloquent,  there  is  little 
increase  either  in  the  number  or  the  grace  of  the  hearers/'* 
But  there  was  a  better  state  of  things  in  this  society  the 
year  following  :  "  On  Monday  and  Tuesday  I  examined 
the  society  at  Bristol,  and  found  cause  to  rejoice  over  these; 
although  there  is  still  a  heaviness  of  spirit  upon  many, 
indeed,  on  all  who  are  not  going  on  to  perfection/'f  Of 
another  society  he  says :  Afterward  I  met  the  society 
(Worcester)  of  about  a  hundred  members,  all  of  one  heart 
and  one  mind ;  so  lovingly  and  closely  united  together,  that 
I  have  scarce  seen  the  like  in  the  kingdom/'J  Of  another 
society  he  says  :  We  went  to  Whitehaven,  where  there  is 
a  fairer  prospect  than  has  been  for  many  years.  The 
society  is  united  in  love,  not  conformed  to  the  world,  but 
laboring  to  experience  the  full  image  of  God  wherein  they 
were  created.''§  Of  another  society  he  says:  ^^I  found 
this  (Arbroath)  to  be  a  genuine  Methodist  society :  they  are 
all  thoroughly  united  to  each  other.  They  love  and  keep 
our  rules ;  they  long  and  expect  to  be  perfected  in  love  :  if 
they  continue  so  to  do  they  will  and  must  increase  in  num- 
ber, as  well  as  in  grace. ''||  Of  another  society  he  says: 
Indeed,  the  society  here  (^Stokesley)  may  be  a  pattern  to 
all  in  England.  They  despise  all  ornaments  but  good 
works,  together  with  a  meek  and  a  quiet  spirit.  I  did  not 
see  a  ruffle,  no,  nor  a  fashionable  cap,  among  them,  though 
many  of  them  are  in  easy  circumstances. Of  another 
society  he  says  :  I  met  such  a  select  society  as  I  have  not 
seen  since  I  left  London.  They  were  about  forty,  of  whom 
I  did  not  find  one  who  had  not  a  clear  witness  of  being 
saved  from  inbred  sin.  Several  of  them  had  lost  it  for  a 
season,  but  could  never  rest  till  they  had  recovered  it. 
And  every  one  of  them  seemed  now  to  walk  in  the  full 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  220.  f  Ibid.  p.  293.  %  Ibid.  322. 
I  Ibid.  p.  590.  I!  Ibid.  p.  591.  \  Ibid.  596. 


176 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


light  of  G-od's  counteuance/^*  Of  anotlier  society  he 
says :  "  On  Tuesday  and  the  three  following  days,  I  exa- 
mined the  society,  (Dublin.)  I  never  found  it  in  such  a 
state  before;  many  of  them  rejoiced  in  Grod  their  Saviour, 
and  were  as  plain  in  their  apparel,  both  men  and  women,  as 
those  in  Bristol  and  London.  Many,  I  verily  believe,  love 
God  with  all  their  hearts ;  and  the  number  of  these  increase 
daily.  The  number  of  the  whole  society  is  seven  hundred 
and  forty-seven.  Above  three  hundred  of  these  have  been 
added  in  a  few  months — a  new  and  unexpected  thing  !  In 
various  places,  indeed,  we  have  frequently  felt 

'  The  o'erwhelming  power  of  saving  grace/ 

which  acted  almost  irresistibly. 

This  was  in  1785.  In  three  years  from  this  time,  Mr. 
Wesley  writes,  I  returned  to  Bristol,  and  on  the  four  fol- 
lowing days  was  sufficiently  employed  in  meeting  the 
classes.    At  each  end  of  the  town  the  society  increases 


^  Wesley's  "Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  597. 

■j-  Ibid.  p.  611.  On  this  extraordinary  work,  Mr.  Wesley  makes  a 
useful  comment :  "  But  such  a  shower  of  grace  never  continued  long  ; 
and  afterward  men  might  resist  the  Holy  Ghost  as  before.  When  the 
general  ferment  subsides,  every  one  that  partook  of  it  has  his  trial  for 
life ;  and  the  higher  the  flood,  the  lower  will  be  the  ebb ;  yea,  the  more 
swiftly  it  rose,  the  more  swiftly  it  falls :  so  that  if  we  see  this  here,  we 
should  not  be  discouraged.  We  should  only  use  all  diligence  to  en- 
courage as  many  as  possible  to  press  forward,  in  spite  of  all  the  refluent 
tide.  Now,  especially,  we  should  warn  one  another  not  to  grow  faint  or 
weary  in  our  mind ;  if  haply  we  may  see  such  another  prodigy  as  the 
late  one  at  Paulton,  near  Bath,  where  there  was  a  very  swift  work  of 
God and  yet,  a  year  after,  out  of  a  hundred  converted,  there  was  not 
one  backslider.  The  number  of  children  that  are  clearly  converted  to 
God  is  particularly  remarkable.  Thirteen  or  fourteen  little  maidens  in 
one  class  are  rejoicing  in  God  their  Saviour;  and  are  as  serious  and 
staid  in  their  whole  behaviour  as  if  they  were  thirty  or  forty  years  old. 
I  have  much  hopes  that  half  of  them  will  be  steadfast  in  the  grace  of 
God  which  they  enjoy." 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


177 


greatly.  It  does  not  decrease  in  any  part  Glory  be  to 
God  V'^ 

It  seems  Mr.  Wesley  regarded  the  observance  of  the 
class  meeting  to  be  of  prime  importance,  for  he  was  sure  to 
express  his  gratification  whenever  he  noticed  a  society 
punctual  and  faithful  in  attendance  upon  this  means  of 
grace :  "  In  meeting  the  classes  the  two  next  days,  I  ob- 
served one  remarkable  circumstance :  without  an  absolute 
necessity,  none  of  this  society  (at  Whitehaven)  ever  miss 
their  class.  Among  near  two  hundred  and  forty  persons,  I 
met  one  single  exception,  and  no  more.^^f 

5.  Class  meetings  secure  the  permanence  of  our  church. 
This  is  evident  from  the  relation  which  they  sustain  to  our 
ministry,  which  is  itinerant.  They  answer  an  essential  and 
indispensable  object  in  this  respect.  They  preserve  the 
fruits  of  our  itinerant  labors.  Without  the  class-meeting 
system,  Methodism,  genuine  Methodism,  is  doomed  to  a 
lingering  and  certain  death ;  it  cannot  long  survive  the 
abolition  or  universal  neglect  of  the  classes.  We  might 
advance,  but  it  would  be  like  the  progress  of  a  victorious 
army  into  an  enemy's  country  without  leaving  behind  it  a 
line  of  well- fortified  forts  to  secure  the  ground  already  won, 
and  which  must  return  and  fight  its  battles  over  again,  or 
perish.  Every  new  class  formed  is  such  a  fort.  And 
tens  of  thousands  of  them  are  now  the  great  rear-guard  of 
the  mighty  Methodist  army  in  its  onward  march  to  share 
with  other  evangelical  churches  in  the  conquest  of  the 
world.  We  might  preach  like  a  Peter,  or  a  Wesley,  or  a 
Whitefield,  who  were  probably  the  most  successful  itinerant 
preachers  the  world  ever  saw ;  and  unless,  like  Peter  and 
Wesley,  and  unlike  Whitefield,  we  organized  the  fruits  of 
our  labors  into  classes,  for  Wesley  certainly  did  it,  and 
Peter  something  like  it,  the  fruits  of  our  labors,  like  those 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  706.  f  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  512. 


178 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


of  Whitefield's,  would  perish  with  us,  unless  we  abolished 
the  itinerant  system,  and  substituted  that  of  a  settled 
ministry.  Take  the  example  of  Whitefield  as  a  most  invin- 
cible proof  and  instructive  lesson. 

"  From  long  experience/'  says  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  I 
know  the  propriety  of  Mr.  Wesley's  advice  to  the  preachers : 
^  Establish  class  meetings  and  form  societies  wherever  you 
preach  and  have  attentive  hearers.  Long  experience  shows 
the  necessity  of  this ;  for  wherever  we  have  preached  with- 
out doing  this,  the  word  has  been  like  seed  sown  by  the 
wayside."*  It  was  by  this  means  that  we  have  been  enabled 
to  establish  permanent  and  holy  churches  over  the  world. 
Mr.  Wesley  saw  the  necessity  of  this  from  *he  beginning. 
Mr.  Whitefield,  when  he  separated  from  Mr.  Wesley,  did 
not  follow  it.  What  was  the  consequence  ?  The  fruit  of 
Mr.  Whitefield's  labors  died  with  himself  Mr.  Wesley's 
fruit  remains,  grows,  increases,  and  multiplies  exceedingly. 
Did  Mr.  Whitefield  see  his  error  ?  He  did  ;  but  not  till  it 
was  too  late.  His  people,  long  unused  to  it,  would  not 
come  under  this  discipline.  Have  I  authority  to  say  so  ? 
I  have.  Forty  years  ago  I  travelled  in  the  Bradford,  Wilt- 
shire, circuit  with  Mr.  John  Pool.  Himself  told  me  the 
following  anecdote.  Mr.  Pool  was  well  known  to  Mr. 
Whitefield ;  and,  having  met  him  one  day,  he  accosted  him 
in  the  following  manner  : — 

Whitefield.  Well,  John,  art  thou  still  a  Wesleyan  ? 

Pool.  Yes,  sir ;  and  I  thank  God  that  I  have  the  privi- 
lege of  being  in  connection  with  Mr.  Wesley,  and  one  of 
his  preachers. 

Whitefield.  John,  thou  art  in  thy  right  place.  My 
brother  Wesley  acted  wisely.  The  souls  that  were  awakened 
under  his  ministry  he  joined  in  class,  and  thus  preserved 
the  fruits  of  his  labor.  This  I  neglected;  and  my  people 
are  a  rope  of  sand. 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


179 


And  what  now  remains  of  this  great  man's  Labor  ? 
Scarcely  any  thing.  Multitudes  were  convinced  under  his 
ministry,  and  are  gone  to  God ;  but  there  is  no  spiritual 
succession.  The  tabernacle  near  Moorfields,  the  tabernacle 
in  Tottenham-court  road,  and  one  in  Bristol,  with  what  is 
called  the  little  school  in  Kingswood,  are  all  even  of  his 
places  of  worship  that  remain,  and  these  are  mere  Independ- 
ent chapels.'^* 

We  shall  close  this  part  of  our  work  with  a  reference  to 
the  high  estimation  in  which  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  have 
always  held  the  class  meetings.  In  the  annual  address  of 
their  Conference  to  their  societies  in  Great  Britain,  August, 
1825,  we  have  the  following  :  We  more  especially  enjoin 
upon  you,  in  the  Lord,  a  diligent  and  conscientious  atten- 
dance at  your  class  meetings.  It  is  these  blessed  institu- 
tions which  so  constantly  respect  the  end  of  all  preaching 
and  of  all  religious  profession — the  work  of  God  in  the 
heart ;  that  the  blind  are  led  in  the  right  way ;  the  peni- 
tent encouraged  to  the  exercise  of  that  faith  in  Christ 
whereby  cometh  salvation  ;  the  tempted  comforted ;  and  all 
urged  forward  by  the  counsels  of  experience  and  the  prayers 
of  those  who  are  united  in  this  interesting  fellowship,  to 
the  mark  for  the  prize  of  our  high  calling.  Take  heed, 
brethren,  that  ye  forsake  not  this  assembling  of  yourselves 
together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is.  And,  dear  brethren, 
be  watchful  over  your  own  hearts,  even  in  the  use  of  this 
searching  and  experimental  means  of  grace,  lest  you  fall 
into  a  careless  and  general  manner  of  speaking  of  the  state 
of  your  experience.  Be  intent  upon  growing  in  grace ; 
seek  instruction  from  your  leaders,  by  freely  laying  open 
the  feelings  of  your  hearts ;  and  thus  let  all  the  members 


*  Clark's  Miscellaneous  Works,  as  quoted  in  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Magazine,  1837,  pp.  912-913, 


180 


BENEFITS  ENUMERATED. 


seek  the  prayers  and  the  sympathies  of  each  other.  It  is 
thus  that  the  communion  of  saints  will  be  strengthened 
among  you;  and,  by  such  simplicity  of  mind,  you  will 
derive  from  this  communion  increasing  power  and  conso- 
lation.^'* 


*  Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazine,  1825,  p.  690. 


PART  IV. 


CHAPTER  1. 

OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 

1.  ^^The  institution  of  the  classes  is  opposed  to  Christian 
liberty/'  This  is  the  most  popular  objection  urged  against 
the  institution,  and  we  shall  give  it  a  most  extended  and 
impartial  consideration,  because  its  refutation  places  the 
institution  upon  a  solid  and  immovable  basis. 

Spirituality  lies  at  the  foundation  of  Methodism  in  all  its 
parts.  Its  inherent  energy  is  wholly  evangelical,  and  its 
experimental  and  practical  efficiency  originates  in  the  simple, 
spiritual,  and  immutable  principles  of  divine  grace.  It  is  a 
substantial  revival  of  primitive  apostolic  power  and  spiritual 
freedom,  without  the  encumbrance  of  the  pompous  forms, 
superstitious  ceremonies,  and  worldly  admixtures,  that  for 
ages,  subsequently  to  the  times  of  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
smothered  the  celestial  fire  which  they  kindled,  and  sub- 
jected the  church  to  the  bondage  of  a  lifeless  formality. 
All  its  usages  are  simple,  solemn,  and  impressive,  requiring 
no  other  conformity,  and  imposing  no  other  restraints,  but 
those  which  the  gospel  enjoins  or  allows.  Its  many  helps 
to  a  holy  life  are  so  many  checks  to  lukewarmness  and 
worldliness;  and  this  is  demonstrative  of  its  evangelical 
purity  and  excellence.  The  restraints  which  it  imposes,  are 
not  inconsistent  with,  but  promotive  of  spiritual  liberty  in 

16  181 


» 

182  OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 

the  highest  and  holiest  sense,  which  all  enjoy  who  yield  to 
those  restraints.  For,  unquestionably,  true  spiritual  liberty 
does  not  release  from  the  observance  of  proper  rites,  and 
rules,  and  points  of  discipline ;  nor  from  the  denial  of  our- 
selves of  worldly  pleasures  and  in  little  things ;  nor  from 
proper  restraints  as  to  sleep,  and  food,  and  dress,  amuse- 
ments, conventional  life,  and  popular  feeling;  nor  from 
bearing  crosses ;  nor  from  performing  strictly  religious 
duties ;  and  all  these  restraints  and  duties  are  imposed  by 
the  class  meeting.  And  therefore  the  class  meeting  is  not 
opposed  to  that  true  liberty  which  is  the  life  of  the  Christian, 
but  to  that  latitude  which  the  inward  corruption  of  the  im- 
perfect believer  desires. 

But  to  be  more  particular.  That  restraint,  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  is  felt  in  the  relation  of  religious  experience 
in  the  class-room,  is  readily  admitted.  But  is  this  restraint 
excessive  ?  Not  at  all ;  but  just  such  as  would  be  felt  any- 
where else  in  giving  a  similar  relation.  It  is  a  restraint  in- 
volved in  the  nature  of  things,  arising  from  the  conflict 
between  the  remaining  corruption  of  the  human  heart  and 
a  gracious  sense  of  unworthiness  and  imperfection ;  it  is  a 
timidity  or  pride  of  disposition  to  conceal  the  heart  from 
others,  because  God  has  revealed  so  little  of  his  love  to  us ; 
it  is  an  infirmity  which  should  be  resisted ;  it  is  a  restraint 
of  obligation  which  every  Methodist  should  overcome,  and 
which  every  happy  Christian  can  easily  overcome,  and  it  is 
his  duty  to  do  it. 

It  has  been  said  if  we  were  less  stringent  in  many  things, 
and  would  dispense  with  class  meetings  especially,  many 
excellent  persons  would  join  us  instead  of  going  to  other 
denominations,  and  we  would  become  the  most  popular 
church  in  the  country.  That  is  what  we  fear.  The  latitude 
allowed  in  other  churches  is  what  we  oppose,  and  against 
which  our  General  Eules'^  are  intended  to  guard  us,  and 
the  class  meeting  to  secure  us.    Let  those  who  desire  liberty 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


183 


to  be  at  ease  in  Zion,  go  elsewhere.  Let  them  go  where 
religious  profession  is  cheapest;  where  there  are  fewest 
worldly  pleasures  to  renounce^  the  lightest  crosses  to  bear, 
the  easiest  labors  to  perform,  the  smallest  sacrifices  to  make, 
and  the  least  hardship  for  Christ's  sake  to  endure.  They 
would  do  us  a  great  deal  of  harm,  and  themselves  but  little 
good.  AYithout  any  fixed  religious  principles,  they  would 
soon  involve  the  church  in  worldliness  and  lukewarmness ; 
without  any  deep  and  permanent  religious  experience,  they 
would  soon  crowd  the  church  with  backsliders  in  heart  and 
life ;  without  any  invariable  standard  of  practical  piety,  they 
would  soon  conform  the  church  to  popular  tastes  and  preju- 
dices ;  without  any  abiding  interest  in  the  purity  and  sim- 
plicity of  the  church,  they  would  soon  draw  down  upon  us 
the  reproaches  of  the  world,  and  fail  us  in  the  day  of  trial ; 
and  crowding  our  courts  by  thousands,  instead  of  urging  on 
Methodism  in  its  great  work  of  revival  in  the  world,  they 
would  stop  every  wheel  in  the  whole  machinery,  and  the 
Methodist  Church,  in  a  quarter  of  a  century,  as  the  J ewish, 
Roman  Catholic,  and  English  churches,  in  other  ages,  be- 
came corrupt,  would  also  become  corrupt ;  and,  like  them, 
need  reformation  and  revival.  Let  Methodism,  as  it  was, 
as  it  is,  in  its  religious  restraints,  whatever  new  modes  and 
usages  may  be  adopted  from  time  to  time  by  the  proper  au- 
thority, remain  till  time  is  no  more.  In  God's  name,  let  it 
remain  as  inviolable  and  unchangeable  as  the  eternal  word. 
We  know  not  the  semblance  of  a  substitute  for  the  class 
meeting,  and  have  never  heard,  and  never  expect  to  hear,  in 
our  day,  of  any  desirable  modification  of  it,  much  less  to 
consent  to  its  abrogation.  In  our  judgment,  at  least,  we 
would  rather  that  excellent  and  well-disposed  persons  should 
join  other  churches,  than  we  abolish  or  modify  the  class 
system,  and  sacrifice  its  inestimable  advantages.  We  would 
rather,  through  its  instrumentality,  preserve  what  we  have, 
and  advance,  if  need  be,  but  slowly,  than  by  its  abolition 


184  OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 

obtain  larger  numbers,  to  whom  then  we  could  not  extend 
the  proper  spiritual  care,  and  so  necessarily,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, must  neglect  the  spiritual  interest  of  the  whole  church. 
And  as  to  persons  of  other  persuasions,  we  would  rather 
that  they  continue  such,  and  maintain  the  doctrines  of  pre- 
destination and  final  perseverance;  of  apostolic  succession 
and  baptismal  regeneration;  of  immersion  and  close  com- 
munion, till  time  is  no  more,  than  we  should  expunge  this 
one  institution  from  Methodism.  We  would  rather  that  all 
in  our  church  who  are  now  opposed  to  it  should  leave  us, 
than  we  should  give  it  up.  If  it  has  not  made  us  what  we 
are,  it  has  contributed  greatly  to  preserve  us  in  our  present 
state ;  and  had  we,  as  pastors,  leaders,  and  members,  ob- 
served this  means  of  grace  as  we  should  have  done,  we 
would  now  be  a  thousand-fold  better  and  mightier  as  a 
church  than  we  are  ;  and  if  we  now  observe  it  as  we  should, 
we  shall  increase  inconceivably  more  rapidly  in  holy  num- 
bers and  spiritual  influence,  than  we  would  if  we  should 
abolish  it,  though  we  might  obtain  the  largest  accessions 
supposed  in  the  objection. 

But  the  objection,  in  fact,  is  founded  upon  an  unwise 
policy  in  another  respect.  There  are  thousands  of  excellent 
persons  who,  from  time  to  time,  join  us  in  view  of  the  great 
advantages  connected  with  the  class  meeting.  Abolish  the 
institution,  and  what  becomes  of  these  ?  And  what  will 
become  of  those  who,  now  in  the  church,  derive  such  un- 
speakable benefits  from  it?  Abolish  this  distinguishing 
feature  of  Methodism,  and  who  can  estimate  the  extent  of 
the  lamentable  results  ?  No,  no ;  we  have  no  respect  for 
the  objection.  Beside,  we  wish  none  to  become  Methodists 
but  those  who  will  submit  to  its  wholesome  and  saving  reli- 
gious restraints,  and  support  Methodism  from  its  substantial 
and  evangelical  excellence;  and  then,  in  the  language  of 
Bishop  Morris,  abide  its  results  through  weal  and  woe.^' 
In  a  word,  the  objection  is  founded  in  ignorance,  or  preju- 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


185 


dice,  or  indisposition  to  submit  to  religious  restraints ;  and 
hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  many  well-disposed  persons 
in  other  churches,  and  even  young  converts  sometimes, 
should  feel  opposed  to  the  class  meeting.  The  class  meeting 
can  be  properly  estimated  only  by  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  it,  and  if  a  knowledge  of  its  great  benefits  cannot 
remove  the  prejudice,  and  overcome  the  indisposition,  why 
our  reasoning  is  at  an  end,  and  we  must  consent  to  let  you 
go  where  you  prefer,  and  we  shall  resolve  to  continue  as 
we  are. 

2.  The  institution  of  the  classes  is  a  popish  ordinance.'^ 
This  is  an  objection  of  gross  and  shameful  ignorance.  The 
inquisitorial  confession  of  Popery  is  made  by  a  single  per- 
son to  a  priest,  in  the  absence  of  others,  and  under  the 
conceit  that  the  priest  is  invested  with  authority  to  forgive 
the  sins  confessed.*  But  in  the  classes,  confession  of  several 
conjointly  is  made,  not  to  a  priest,  but  ordinarily  to  a  layman, 
and  to  each  other,  in  order  to  obtain  mutual  helps  to  ^^work 
out  their  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling''  before  God. 
No  authority  is  assumed  by  the  leader  to  forgive  sin,  no 


*  "Q.  76.  What  is  confession  ? 

A.  Confession  is  a  particular  discovery  of  all  mortal  sins  to  the  priest, 
with  all  their  circumstances  that  increase  or  diminish  the  sin,  as  far  as 
can  be  called  to  mind,  {Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  14,  c.  5,  and  Catch,  ib,  n. 
48 ;)  -without  which  neither  forgiveness  nor  salvation  is  to  obtained. 
(Trid.  ih.  can.  6,  7.    Catch,  n.  44.) 

Q.  77.  Of  what  kind  is  the  absolution  which  the  priest  grants  upon 
confession  ? 

A.  The  absolution  is  not  only  declarative,  but  judicial;  and  the  sen- 
tence pronounced  by  the  priest  is  as  if  pronounced  by  the  Judge  him- 
self, {ConciL  Trid.  ih.  c.  6,  and  can.  9;)  he  perfecting  what  God  causes. 
{Catch,  par.  2,  5,  n.  17.) 

Q.  "What  is  the  benefit  of  absolution  ? 

A,  Although  a  sinner  is  not  so  afifected  with  such  grief  for  his  sin  as 
may  be  sufficient  to  obtain  pardon ;  yet,  when  he  has  rightly  confessed 
to  a  priest,  all  his  sins  are  pardoned,  and  an  entrance  is  opened  into 
heaven.    {Catcli:  ih.  n.  Z^.) 

16* 


186  OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 

conceit  is  entertained  by  the  members  of  tbe  class  that  he 
can  forgive  sin.  Again  :  in  the  popish  confession  it  is  re- 
quired that  the  most  secret  heart-sins  be  specified  and  dis- 
closed, and  the  foulest  and  blackest  crimes  be  therein 
secretly  acknowledged  to  the  priest,  to  be  forgiven  by  him. 
In  the  classes  all  is  open ;  general  statements  of  Christian 
experience  only  are  made,  such  as  religious  progress  and 
comfort,  or  temptation  to  pride  or  unbelief;  and  if  any 
actual  sins  or  immoralities  were  acknowledged,  the  offender 
would  be  forthwith  reported  to  the  preacher,  and  formally 
arraigned,  tried,  and  publicly  expelled  from  the  church. 

These  meetings  are  not,  as  some  have  supposed,  inquisito- 
rial; but  their  business  is  confined  to  statements  of  religious 
experience,  and  the  administration  of  friendly  and  pious 
counsel. A  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  advantages  of 
class  meetings,  which  we  have  already  given,  will  be  suffi- 
cient effectually  to  refute  this  horrid  objection.  A  single 
visit  to  the  class-room  would  do  it.  Methodism,  in  doctrine, 
experience,  form,  practice,  and  influence,  from  its  origin  till 
the  present  time,  is  one  of  the  most  powerful,  open-faced, 
open-hearted  organizations  against  Popery  the  world  ever 
knew.  We  repeat,  this  objection  is  founded  in  ignorance 
of  the  true  nature  of  the  class  meeting,  and  we  add,  in  igno- 
rance also  of  the  nature  of  the  popish  confession. 

3.  The  observance  of  the  class  meeting  is  not  essential 
to  true  Christian  character  and  salvation,  and  therefore 
should  not  be  made  a  condition  of  membership. This  is 
the  very  strongest  objection  ever  urged  against  the  institu- 
tion, but  we  think  it  may  be  easily  refuted. 

One  of  the  most  important  questions  that  can  engage  the  at- 
tention of  civil  legislators  is  that  of  right  to  citizenship;  and 
so  one  of  the  most  important  questions  that  can  engage  the 
attention  of  those  in  authority  in  the  church  is  that  of  right 


Watson's  Life  of  Wesley,  p.  96. 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


187 


to  church-membership.  We  have  akeady,  at  much  length, 
shown  that  the  ministry  are  invested  with  authority  to  make 
prudential  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  the 
church  over  which  they  preside :  in  all  cases,  however,  most 
strictly  in  conformity  to  the  general,  plainly-revealed,  and  im- 
mutable principles  of  the  Bible ;  and  then  such  rules  and  regu- 
lations, adopted  for  the  government  of  any  particular  church, 
are  as  obligatory  upon  its  members  as  if  they  were  specified 
and  enjoined  in  the  Bible.  This  sound  maxim  of  church-go- 
vernment cannot  be  rejected  without  assuming  that  an  invaria- 
ble form  of  church-government  is  definitely  prescribed  in  the 
Bible,  and  that  this  form  is  suitable  to  all  ages  of  the  church : 
the  one  untrue  in  fact,  and  the  other  impossible  in  the  nature 
of  things.  So  necessary  is  this  maxim,  that  the  ablest 
writers  and  the  best  authorities  have  supported  it  in  the 
most  unequivocal  language.  Among  the  important  facts 
which  we  can  collect  and  fully  ascertain  from  the  sacred 
historians,  scanty,  and  irregular,  and  imperfect  as  are  their 
records  of  particulars,  one  of  the  most  important  is  that 
very  scantiness  and  incompleteness  in  the  detail,  that  absence 
of  any  full  and  systematic  description  of  the  formation  and 
regulation  of  Christian  commentaries ;  for  we  may  plainly 
infer,  from  this  very  circumstance,  the  design  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  that  those  details,  concerning  which  no  particular 
directions,  accompanied  with  strict  injunctions,  are  to  be 
found  in  Scripture,  were  meant  to  be  left  to  the  regulation 
of  each  church,  in  each  age  and  country That  all  be 
done  for  edification  and  the  common  benefit  of  the  church, 
doth  noways  restrain  his  church's  freedom  in  disposing  of  it- 
self as  to  the  form  of  its  government,  so  the  aim  of  the 
church  be  for  the  better  edification  of  the  body  of  the 
church,  and  to  promote  the  benefit  of  it.''  The  same  author : 
In  which  sense  I  assert  any  particular  form  of  government 


AVhately's  Apos.  Sue.  p.  80. 


188 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


agreed  on  by  the  governors  of  the  church,  consonant  to 
the  general  rules  of  Scripture,  to  be  by  divine  right,  i.  e. 
God  by  his  own  laws  hath  given  men  a  power  and  liberty  to 
determine  one  particular  form  of  church-government  among 
them.  And  hence  it  may  appear,  that  though  one  form  of 
government  may  be  agreeable  to  the  word,  it  doth  not  follow 
that  another  is  not ;  or,  because  one  is  lawful,  another  is 
unlawful :  but  one  form  may  be  more  agreeable  to  some 
parts,  places,  people,  and  times  than  others  are.  In  which 
case  that  form  of  government  is  to  be  settled  which  is  most 
agreeable  to  the  present  state  of  a  place,  and  is  most  advan- 
tageously conducible  to  promoting  the  ends  of  church-govern- 
ment in  that  place  or  nation.  The  ground  and  reason  of 
government  in  the  church  is  unalterable  hi/  divine  right ; 
yea,  and  that  very  reason  which  determines  the  particular 
forms  :  but  yet,  those  particular  forms  flowing  from  that 
immutable  reason  may  be  very  different  in  themselves,  and 
may  alter  according  to  the  several  circumstances  of  times, 
and  places,  and  persons,  for  the  more  commodious  advancing 
the  main  end  of  government.^'*  Hence,  I  conclude  that 
it  is  lawful  to  continue,  or  even  institute,  rites  and  discipline 
not  mentioned  in  Scripture,  provided  they  be  not  opposed 
to  the  truths  or  principles  of  Scripture ;  for,  if  it  be  other- 
wise, all  Christians,  from  the  beginning,  must  have  mistaken 
their  own  religion,  and  acted  as  the  enemies  of  Christ.^'f 
^'  Those  who  found  forms  of  government  upon  a  divine  right, 
do  not  plead  a  law  in  express  terms,  but  such  things  from 
whence  a  divine  right  by  law  may  be  inferred.'^  J  "  While 
the  principles^  in  short,  are  clearly  recognised  and  strongly 
inculcated,  which  Christian  communities  and  individual 
members  of  them  are  to  keep  in  mind  and  act  upon,  with 
a  view  to  the  great  objects  for  which  these  communities  were 


*  Stillingfleet's  Irenicum,  pp.  41,  42.         f  Palmer  on  the  Church. 
:j:  Stillingfleet's  Irenicum,  p.  44. 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


189 


established,  the  j)recise  modes  in  wliich  these  objects  are,  in 
each  case  to  be  promoted,  are  left — one  can  hardly  donbt, 
studiously  left — undefined/'*  /^It  is  a  most  valuable 
part  of  that  blessed  liber f 7/  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us 
free,  that,  in  his  worship,  different  forms  and  usages  may, 
without  offence,  be  allowed,  provided  the  substance  of  the 
faith  be  kept^entire,  and  that,  in  every  church,  what  cannot 
be  clearly  determined  to  belong  to  doctrine  must  be  referred 
to  discipline,  and  therefore,  by  common  consent  and  autho- 
rity, may  be  altered,  abridged,  enlarged,  amended,  or  other- 
wise disposed  of,  as  may  seem  most  convenient  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  the  people,  ^according  to  the  various  exigencies 
and  occasions/  ^'f  ^^It  is  not  necessary  that  traditions  and 
ceremonies  be,  in  all  places,  one,  or  utterly  alike ;  for  at 
all  times,  they  have  been  diverse,  and  may  be  changed  ac- 
cording to  the  diversities  of  countries,  times,  and  men's  man- 
ners, so  that  nothing  be  ordained  against  God's  word/^J 

Every  particular  church  may  ordain,  change,  or  abolish  rites 
and  ceremonies,  so  that  all  things  may  be  done  to  edifica- 
tion ;''§  which  is  a  just  and  proper  modification  of  the  Thirty- 
fourth  Article  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church.  In  perfect  consistency  with  the 
above  principle  of  common  right — that  of  private  judgment 
in  all  matters  that  respect  religion,  as  universal  and  unalien- 
able— every  Christian  church,  or  union,  or  association  of 
particular  churches,  is  entitled  to  declare  the  terms  of  ad- 
mission into  its  communion,  and  the  qualifications  of  its 
ministers  and  members,  as  well  as  the  whole  system  of  its 
internal  government  which  Christ  hath  appointed/^  || 

Thus,  the  Methodist  Church  has  authority  by  divine  right 
to  institute  such  prudential  regulations  as  shall  be  in  con- 


*  Whately's  Apos.  Sue.  pp.  90,  91.       f  Pref.  Prot.  Epis.  Prayer-Book. 
t  XXXIV.  Art.  Prot.  Epis.  Church.       ^  XXII.  Art.  Meth.  Epis.  Church. 
II  Presb.  Confess.  Faith. 


190 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


formity  to  lier  character,  and  required  to  accomplisli  the 
great  objects  of  her  ministry,  which  is  itinerant;  and  she 
has  authority  to  require  the  observance  of  them,  provided 
they  be  scriptural,  under  the  penalty  of  exclusion.  All 
evangelical  churches,  upon  the  same  principle  of  divine 
right,  have  certain  rules  and  regulations  as  conditions  of 
membership,  and  what  are  binding  upon  one  church  are  not 
binding  upon  another,  unless  adopted  by  it.  And  so  what 
is  enjoined  by  one  church  as  essential  to  the  true  Christian 
character  and  salvation  of  its  members  must  be  observed  by 
them  as  such ;  provided  it  is  substantially  contained  in  the 
Bible,  which,  we  have  proved,  is  the  nature  of  the  classes. 
In  a  word,  what  is  essential  to  the  order,  harmony,  spirit- 
uality, usefulness,  and  existence  of  the  Methodist  Church,  is 
essential  to  the  true  Christian  character  and  salvation  of  its 
individual  members;  and  such  is  the  relation  of  the  classes 
to  the  whole  Methodistic  economy.  It  holds  a  relation  to 
the  Methodist  Church,  essential  and  indispensable  to  the  ac- 
complishment of  its  work  as  an  itinerant  church;  and  with- 
out the  proper  observance  of  this  institution  by  the  mem- 
bers;  the  ministry  have  no  satisfactory  knowledge  of  their 
true  Christian  character,  and  can  have  none.  This,  we  re- 
peat, is  the  principal  mode  of  determining  spiritual  character 
in  the  Methodist  Church ;  and  those  who  are  in  the  wilful 
and  repeated  neglect  of  class  are  generally  considered  as  in 
a  backslidden  state.  And  until  it  can  be  shown,  that  the 
Methodist  Church,  in  doctrine,  discipline,  and  usage,  is  not 
substantially  founded  upon  the  Bible,  the  observance  of  the 
class  meeting  must  be  assumed  as  essential  to  the  true 
Christian  character  and  salvation  of  Methodists.  Govern- 
ment implies  obedience;  and  if  the  government  of  a  church, 
the  Methodist  Church,  for  example,  be  founded  on  the  Bible, 
then  obedience  of  its  members  is  essential  to  true  Christian 
character  and  salvation.  It  is  not  pretended  that  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Church  could  not  be  saved,  should  he  leave 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


191 


US;  and  join  some  other  branch  of  the  Christian  church,  for 
there  are  facilities  enough  in  other  evangelical  churches  to 
enable  him  to  save  his  soul ;  but  it  is  confidently  affirmed 
that  no  one  in  the  Methodist  Church,  or  in  any  other  evan- 
gelical church,  can  be  saved  unless  he  comply,  in  the  proper 
manner,  with  the  requisitions  of  his  particular  church.  For 
not  to  do  this,  is  to  fail  to  do  his  duty  as  a  Christian  ;  and 
if  he  fail  to  do  this  he  cannot  be  saved,  unless  he  heartily 
repent  before  God,  and  obtain  forgiveness  for  his  neglect 
before  he  dies.  Any  other  conclusion  would  imply,  that  it 
is  not  essential  to  salvation  that  any  one  join  any  branch  of 
the  Christian  church;  that  it  is  a  matter  of  utter  indifFer- 
ance  whether  the  believer  join  any  church  or  not;  that  the 
obligation  of  no  believer  extends  to  a  formal  association 
with  any  Christian  church  at  all ;  that  the  Christian  church 
is  not  a  divinely-authorized  system  of  means  of  grace  and 
salvation ;  that  the  Christian  church  afibrds  no  helps  to  the 
formation  of  a  true  Christian  character  and  the  salvation 
of  man ;  that  the  Christian  church  is  invested  with  no 
authority  at  all;  that  no  system  of  church -government  is 
obligatory  upon  Christians ;  and  that  a  true  Christian  cha- 
racter may  be  acquired,  and  salvation  be  secured,  out  of  the 
church  as  well  as  in  it.  To  concentrate  the  refutation  of 
the  objection  in  a  few  words  :  If  a  believer  wilfully  and 
repeatedly  neglect  to  observe  the  requisitions  of  the  church 
of  which  he  is  a  member,  and  at  some  time  fail  to  associate 
himself  with  any  other  branch  of  the  Christian  church,  he 
cannot  form  a  true  Christian  character;  he  cannot  be  saved, 
unless  he  heartily  repent,  and  obtain  forgiveness,  through 
the  great  mercy  of  God,  before  the  close  of  his  probationary 
state.  Oh,  if  it  be  so  difficult  to  be  saved  in  the  church, 
with  all  its  helps,  how  can  he  be  saved  who  wilfully  and  re- 
peatedly neglects  all  those  helps,  or  any  of  those  helps  ? 
especially  that  one  which  is  of  the  greatest  service,  and  is  the 
test  of  Christian  character,  as  the  class  meeting  is  in  the 


192 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


Methodist  Churcli  ?  It  is  impossible,  without  repentance 
and  forgiveness.  Let  all  in  the  Methodist  Church,  who  wil- 
fully and  repeatedly  neglect  their  class,  and  imagine  that 
they  are  nevertheless  forming  a  true  Christian  character,  and 
are  in  the  sure  and  certain  way  of  saving  their  souls;  wake 
up  from  the  vain  delusion — and  keep  awake. 

We  say,  vain  delusion.  Let  us  put  the  question  to  the 
test  of  experience.  What  progress  have  these  vain  ob- 
jectors made  in  sound  Christian  experience — any  at  all— 
from  the  commencement  of  this  wilful  and  repeated  neglect  ? 
Examine  the  heart  and  life  impartially.  What  preparation 
for  trial  ?  for  death  ?  for  judgment  ?  for  heaven  ?  When 
were  they  at  a  prayer-meeting?  what  enjoyment  under  the 
preaching  of  the  word  ?  what  in  private  prayer  ?  what  in  family 
prayer  ?  what  in  Christian  conversation  ?  if  they  observe  these 
means  of  grace,  and  discharge  these  duties  regularly,  or  at 
all.  What  sacrifices  do  they  make  for  Christ's  sake?  or  what 
self-denial  do  they  exercise  ?  or  crosses  do  they  bear  ?  or 
hardness  do  they  endure  ?  or  strictly  religious  duties  do 
they  perform  ?  or  influence,  as  Christians,  do  they  exert  in 
the  church,  at  home,  and  among  men  ?  What  comfort  in 
reading  the  Bible  ? — do  they  read  it  at  all  ?  or  at  the  sacra- 
ment, if  they  observe  it  indeed  but  occasionally  ?  or  in 
revivals,  except  an  occasional  and  transient  quickening  ?  or 
in  the  reception  of  God's  providential  goodness,  except  a 
common  gratitude  ?  What  spiritual  power  have  they  to 
restrain  the  love  of  the  world,  except  to  appease  the  con- 
science with  deceptive  compromises  ?  or  to  resist  daily 
temptations,  except  to  conquer  but  in  part  ?  or  to  discharge 
present  and  pressing  religious  obligations,  except  to  resolve 
to  do  better  by-and-by  ?  Alas  !  what  coldness  !  what  dead- 
ness !  what  doubts !  what  fears !  When  the  thunder 
rumbles  from  the  pulpit  through  the  church,  too  to  them 
that  are  at  ease  in  Zion  !  the  very  text  sounds  like  a  death- 
knell  to  them  ! — a  death-knell  from  the  God  they  loved, 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


193 


and  to  whose  church  they  belong !  Wo  in  life  I  wo  in 
death  !  wo  at  the  judgment !  wo  in  hell  I  And  are  these 
souls  forming  a  true  Christian  character,  discharging  the 
one  great  obligation  that  comprehends  the  whole  life,  with 
the  action  and  the  fire  of  the  whole  mind  directed  to  the 
great  objects  of  eternity,  severally  independent  of  life's 
endless  fluctuations,  and  sustained  by  Him  who  is  "  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever  No ;  but  they  are 
souls  so  exhausted  of  their  early  religious  life  as  to  be 
reduced  now  to  the  condition  of  sterility  and.  weeds,  with 
not  a  green  leaf  remaining.  These  are  the  tares and 
the  angels  of  judgment  will  pluck  them  out  from  the 
"wheat/'  These  are  the  withered  branches;''  and  the 
angels  of  justice  will  commit  them  to  the  burning.  These 
are  the  foolish  virgins and  their  oil  is  gone  out,  and 
their  sleep  is  deep  in  the  church,  and  the  Bridegroom,  the 
blessed  Lord  Jesus,  will  shut  them  out  of  heaven.  These 
are  the  Laodicean  lovers  of  God,  who  say  they  ^^are  rich, 
and  increased  with  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing;"  and 
SO'  they  generally  are  in  a  worldly  sense — and  that  is  all 
they  care  about  heartily  and  sincerely ;  but  they  are 
wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked ;" 
and  "the  Amen,  the  faithful  and  true  Witness,"  will 
"spew  them  out  of  his  mouth."  May  repentance  avert  the 
terrible  and  evil  day  ! 

But  farther :  (1.)  This  objection  is  not  made  by  an  exem- 
plary Christian,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word ;  for  such  a 
Christian  is  faithful  in  attending  to  this  means  of  grace ; 
and  hence  the  fact  is  wanting  to  support  the  objection.  (2.) 
Exemplary  Christians — that  is,  those  who  are  either  ac- 
quainted with  the  deep  things  of  God,  or  are  earnestly  and 
faithfully  seeking  them — are  the  first  to  condemn  themselves 
for  the  neglect  of  class  meeting ;  because  in  it  they  find  so 
many  advantages  and  helps  of  a  spiritual  kind ;  and  they 
-would  consider  it  extremely  inconsistent  with  their  expe- 


194 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


rience  and  sense  of  duty,  to  neglect  a  single  meeting  with- 
out just  and  sufficient  excuse,  such  as  sickness,  distance,  or 
unavoidable  business.  (3.)  The  objection  is,  in  fact,  an 
admission  that  a  faithful  and  proper  observance  of  this 
institution  insures  an  exemplary  life  and  final  salvation. 
Why,  then,  as  these  are  the  great  objects  of  the  Christian, 
should  any  3Iethodist  desire  to  excuse  himself  for  neglecting 
his  class  altogether  ?  It  will  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  reconcile  an  ardent  and  increasing  desire  to  be  saved, 
such  as  a  truly  exemplary  Christian  always  feels,  with  any 
rational  and  religious  opposition  to  the  class  meeting.  If 
such  prejudice  does  exist,  a  knowledge  of  the  natui^  and 
benefits  of  the  class  meeting  will  remove  it,  and  the  objec- 
tion vanishes  away.  (4.)  If  you  were  an  exemplary  Chris- 
tian, in  heart  and  life,  and  all  manner  of  conversation,  as  a 
Methodist  you  would  feel  no  disposition  to  urge  this  objec- 
tion another  moment.  (5.)  It  is  not  pretended  that  there 
are  no  exemplary  Christians  in  other  churches,  who,  if 
faithful,  will  finally  be  saved;  but  it  is  affirmed  that  no 
one  in  our  church,  who  wilfully  and  habitually  neglects  his 
class  meeting,  can  ever  be  eminent  for  piety  either  in  heart, 
or  life,  or  death.  (6.)  Nor  is  it  pretended  that  the  habitual 
neglecter  of  class  meetings  cannot  finally  be  saved;  but  it 
is  affirmed  that  the  life  of  all  such  will  be  rough  and  doubt- 
ful, and,  even  with  a  late  repentance,  death  ordinarily  be 
unblest  with  the  abundant  consolations  of  divine  gmce.  (7.) 
The  Methodist  who  seldom  or  never  meets  with  his  class, 
if  he  be  any  thing,  cannot  be  more  than  a  weak  and  soli- 
tary Christian,  whatever  may  be  his  influence  for  consistency 
of  character,  amiability,  liberality,  talents,  and  usefulness 
in  advancing  the  temporal  business  of  the  church ; — weak, 
because  he  knows  so  little  of  spiritual  things  himself,  that 
he  can  extend  but  little  spiritual  help  to  others ;  ever  com- 
plaining of  his  want  of  faith,  and  hope,  and  love,  and 
zeal,  he  rather  needs  help  from  others,  which  he  declines  to 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


195 


seek  in  the  class  meeting ;  and  solitary^  because  failing  to 
associate  with  those  little  social  companies^  the  classes,  who 
unite  their  counsels,  their  sympathies,  their  courage,  their 
strength,  and  their  prayers,  to  aid  one  another  in  pursuing 
the  journey  of  life  through  the  dangerous  wilderness,  he 
resolves  to  walk  alone  all  the  way.  (8.)  This  objection  is 
a  death-blow  struck  at  a  most  important  institution  of  the 
Methodist  Church.  If  the  objection  be  valid  and  true,  then 
this  institution  may  be  wholly  abolished;  for  why  retain 
what  is  no  longer  required  ?  But  is  it  indeed  no  help  ? 
has  it  no  advantages  ?  and  may  Methodists  be  as  holy  and 
useful  without  as  with  this  favorite  and  peculiar  means  of 
grace  ?  Then  it  imposes  a  heavy  and  useless  burden,  and 
should  not  continue  another  hour  in  force.  But  not  one 
word  of  this  is  true,  as  the  history  of  the  institution  de- 
monstrates. Suppose  every  other  Methodist  were  to  adopt 
your  opinion  and  practice  on  this  subject,  in  how  short  a 
time  would  the  whole  church  be  utterly  shorn  of  its 
strength  ! 

4.  Other  evangelical  denominations  have  not  the  class 
meeting  in  their  systems  of  church-government,  who  never- 
theless are  evangelical,  and  why  should  the  Methodist  Church 
be  peculiar  in  this  respect  ?  That  is,  why  should  one  evan- 
gelical church  consider  that  essential  in  church-government 
which  other  evangelical  churches  do  not  consider  as  such  V 

If  this  objection  be  admitted,  then  uniformity  is  the  only 
sound  principle  of  church-government,  and  where  then  shall 
we  commence,  and  where  shall  we  stop  ?  What  evangelical 
church  shall  be  taken  as  the  standard  of  all  the  rest  ?  or 
what  modifications  shall  be  made  in  each  to  effect  the  uni- 
formity ?  The  thing  is  impossible.  It  is  not  only  impossi- 
ble, but  it  is  unnecessary.  Uniformity  in  essential  doctrine 
and  experience  is  all  that  is  necessary,  no  matter  how  the 
external  forms  and  modes  answerable  to  maintaining  evan- 
gelical doctrine  and  experience  may  vary  in  various  churches. 


196 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


Again  :  entire  uniformity  in  doctrine  and  experience  is  nofc 
to  be  regarded  as  essential  to  the  evangelical  union  of  the 
churches.  It  is  not  difficult  to  determine  the  bounds  within 
which  uniformity  may  be  determined^  and  churches  claiming 
to  be  evangelical  may  be  recognised,  and  beyond  which, 
sects  claiming  to  be  evangelical,  should  be  excluded  as  here- 
tical. Any  church  maintaining  the  fundamental  doctrines 
and  experience  of  evangelical  Christianity,  with  an  external 
'form  of  government  in  accordance  with  the  decency  and 
order''  required  in  the  Bible,  is  to  be  recognised  as  evangeli- 
cal, though  it  may  not  embrace  the  entire  doctrine  and  ex- 
perience revealed  in  the  Bible.  In  these  there  may  be 
degrees  of  difference  in  evangelical  churches,  though  not 
sufficient  to  prevent  a  general  and  helpful  uniformity.  Thus, 
other  churches  maintain  the  doctrine  of  tlie  indirect,  but 
not  the  direct  witness  of  the  Spirit :  the  Methodist  Church 
maintains  both.  Other  churches  maintain  the  doctrine  of 
the  new  birth,  but  not  the  possibility  of  entire  sanctifica- 
tion,  or  removal  of  the  in-being  of  sin,  till  death :  the 
Methodist  Church  maintains  both  the  doctrine  of  regenera- 
tion, and  the  possibility  of  sanctification  at  any  time  before 
death.  Certain  churches  maintain  the  doctrine  of  a  limited 
atonement :  the  Methodist  Church  maintains  the  salvable 
condition  of  all  men.  In  these,  as  prominent  examples, 
there  is  a  difference  only  in  the  extent  of  faith  and  experi- 
ence ;  and  as  Methodists  we  believe  these  churches  go  far 
enough  to  be  regarded  as  evangelical.  Again :  certain 
churches  maintain  the  doctrine  of  infallible  final  perseve- 
rance :  the  Methodist  Church  maintains  the  doctrine  of  the 
possibility  of  falling  from  grace ;  but  they  do  not  consider 
the  former  doctrine  sufficient  of  itself  to  exclude  those  who 
maintain  it  from  the  family  of  evangelical  churches.  Again : 
a  certain  church  maintains  the  doctrine  of  a  regular,  un- 
broken episcopal  succession  from  the  apostles  as  essential 
to  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  church  and  ministry  : 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


197 


the  Methodist  Church  and  other  churches  do  not  maintai!) 
the  doctrine;  and  yet^  though  excluded  themselves  by  thot 
church,  as  destitute  of  this  essential  characteristic  of  the 
church  of  Christ,  they  do  not  consider  the  maintainance  of 
this  dogma  as  sufficient  to  exclude  her  from  the  family  of 
evangelical  churches.  Again :  other  evangelical  churches 
are  under  the  pastoral  care  of  a  settled  ministry:  the 
Methodist  Church  prefers  that  of  an  itinerant  ministry;  yet 
this  does  not  disturb  the  general  harmony,  or  hinder  a  uni- 
formity in  the  great  work  of  evangelizing  the  world.  Now 
the  argument  is  this  :  as  the  Methodists  maintain  a  higher 
Spiritual  life,  and  the  possibility  of  falling  from  grace,  and 
are  under  the  pastoral  care  of  an  itinerant  ministry,  it  is 
natural  that  they  should  feel  the  necessity  of  instituting 
such  prudential  regulations  as  correspond  to  their  peculiar 
views  and  peculiar  nature.  They  have  adopted  prudential 
regulations  different  from  those  adopted  by  other  churches 
to  cover  the  advanced  ground  which  they  occupy,  and  guard 
against  the  dangers  to  which  they  see  themselves  exposed. 
Such,  for  example,  is  the  prudential  institution  of  the 
classes ;  and  they  regard  this  as  prudential  in  the  strictest 
and  highest  sense,  because  it  is  designed  to  promote  experi 
mental  religion  to  the  highest  degree  possible  in  this  life 
and  to  guard  in  the  best  manner  possible  against  declension 
and  backsliding  in  religion ;  as  must  appear  evident  from  a 
reference  to  the  discussion  of  the  Nature,  Obligation,^^  an  i 
Benefits''  of  the  institution  contained  in  this  treatise 
The  difference,  then,  in  these  respects,  between  the  Metho: 
ist  Church  and  other  churches,  is  one  reason  why  they  ha\  c 
not  incorporated  the  class  meeting  in  their  government.  But 
the  principal  reason,  just  now  alluded  to,  is  this : 

Other  -churches  are  not  constituted  externally  as  ours  is. 
Other  churches  are  local,  and  the  government  must  bo 
organized  accordingly :  ours  is  itinerant,  and  the  govern  - 
ment  must  be  organized  accordingly.    The  object  of  both  is 


198 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


fundamentally  the  same — the  salvation  of  men.  We  ac- 
complish that  object  in  our  way;  they  in  their  way.  They 
do  without  the  class  meeting  •  we  employ  it.  They  think 
they  can  do  without  it;  we  think  we  cannot  do  without  it. 
They  think  they  can  accomplish  the  great  objects  of  a  local 
ministry  without  it;  we  think  we  cannot  accomplish  the 
great  objects  of  an  itinerant  ministry  without  it.  The  dif- 
ference in  the  character  of  our  ministry  renders  the  class 
meeting  necessary  to  us.  And  yet  it  is  very  probable,  if 
not  certain,  that  the  adoption  of  the  class  meeting,  or  some- 
thing substantially  the  same,  would  greatly  aid  them  in  their 
work,*  which  greatly  strengthens  our  argument  for  the 
institution.  That  is,  what  they  ought  to  have,  we  have;  or 
what  they  need  not,  we  need :  in  the  latter  case,  because 
they  have  it  not,  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  have  it ; 


And  yet  other  denominations  greatly  need  some  such  social  regula- 
tion ;  and  a  large  portion  of  them,  who  understand  and  feel  a  deep  interest 
in  the  spirituality  of  their  churches,  generously  and  frankly  admit  the 
fitness  and  wisdom  of  the  Methodist  institution  of  the  classes.  ''An  in- 
fluential member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  who  was  strongly  attached 
to  that  people,  and  had  been  as  strongly  opposed  to  the  Methodists  until 
an  acquaintance  with  them  removed  his  prejudices,  said  to  me,  'I  admire 
your  social  meetings,  especially  your  class  meetings ;  by  that  means  you 
become  acquainted  with  each  other's  spiritual  state,  which  not  only  pre- 
pares you  to  sympathize  with,  and  labor  for  each  other,  but  also  culti- 
vates brotherly  love,  and  affords  an  opportunity  to  encourage  and  "  exhort 
one  another,"  as  the  Bible  commands.^  And,  said  he,  'I  tell  my  brethren 
that  we  greatly  need  some  such  social  means  of  grace,  for  we  know  no- 
thing of  the  spiritual  state  of  the  members  of  the  church,  except  that 
we  see  them  at  church  and  the  communion ;  and  how  cah  we  labor  to- 
gether ;  it  is  impossible.'  ''f  An  intelligent  Episcopal  minister  with 
emphasis  acknowledged  to  the  author  of  this  treatise,  that  "a  similar 
institution  was  needed  in  his  own  church,  to  improve  the  spirituality  of 
its  members,  and  unite  them  more  closely  in  spiritual  union."  Mr.  Wesley 
felt  this  in  Church  of  England,  and  he  supplied  the  need,  and  the 
Methodist  Church  in  England  and  America  perpetuated  it;  and  may  it 
never  be  abandoned ! 


f  Reasons  for  Becoming  a  Methodist,  p.  121. 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


199 


and  in  the  former  case,  because  they,  as  a  local  ministry, 
ought  to  have  it,  is  a  stronger  reason  why  we,  as  an  itinerant 
ministry,  should  use  it.  And  so  the  argument  is  turned 
point-blank  against  the  objection.  That  is,  the  class  meet- 
ing, indispensable  as  it  is  to  the  work  of  an  itinerant  minis- 
try, would  be  useful  to  a  local  ministry ;  and  therefore  a 
local  ministry  should  adopt  and  practise  it.  But  whether 
the  class  meeting  would  be  useful  or  not  to  a  local  ministry, 
is  immaterial.  It  is  indispensable  to  a  work  of  an  itinerant 
ministry,  and  this  is  another  reason  why  the  Methodists  are 
peculiar  in  adopting  and  practising  it. 

But  further :  why  should  the  class  meeting  be  selected  as 
objectionable  because  of  its  peculiarity  ?  Upon  the  abstract 
ground  of  peculiarity  the  same  objection  might  be  made  to 
our  Love-Feasts,  General  Superintendency,  Itinerancy,  Pre- 
siding-Eldership,  General  and  Annual  Conferences,  modes 
of  church-trial,  and  so  on.  But  does  this  prove  any  of 
these  unwise  or  inconsistent  with  Scripture  ?  Not  at  all. 
It  does  not  follow,  because  the  external  forms  of  other 
churches  are  right,  admitting  them  to  be  right,  that  ours  is 
wrong;  or  because  theirs  answer  well  for  them,  that  ours 
will  not  answer  as  well  for  us,  to  effect  the  great  objects  of 
the  gospel.  Why  should  other  external  church-governments 
be  made  the  standard  by  which  to  determine  the  nature  of 
ours,  or  what  ours  should  be  ?  Why  may  not  ours  be  made 
the  standard  for  them  in  these  respects  ?  They  have  the 
test  of  centuries  by  which  to  determine  the  wisdom  and  effi- 
ciency of  theirs,  and  we,  let  it  be  observed,  have  had  but 
little  more  than  a  single  century  to  determine  the  wisdom 
and  efficiency  of  ours ;  and,  as  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  we  are  in  advance  of  all  of  them,  and 
our  march  is  still  onward.  And  here  we  turn  the  tables 
again  :  experiment  proves  the  superior  wisdom  and  efficiency 
of  our  church-government,  and  therefore  it  should  rather 
be  made  the  standard  for  modifications  in  the  government 


200 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


of  other  churches,  than  theirs  should  be  made  a  standard 
for  us. 

5.  ^^The  requisition  to  attend  class  should  be  so  modified 
as  to  leave  attendance  optional  with  the  members  of  the 
church.^'  This  is  a  concession,  at  least,  that  the  institution  is 
in  some  sense  profitable  and  expedient,  which  is  a  great 
point  gained.  But  this  does  not  cover  the  whole  ground : 
we  regard  it  as  a  church  regulation  solemnly  obligatory,  and 
in  the  highest  sense  profitable.  Optional  to  attend !  then 
the  very  design  of  the  institution  were  thwarted ;  for  this 
would  be  making  provision  for  its  universal  neglect;  and 
then  the  evils  which  it  is  intended  to  prevent  would  follow, 
and  the  benefits  which  it  is  intended  to  insure  would  be 
lost  to  the  church.  Remove  the  restraints  of  obligation  to 
attend  class,  and  timidity,  discouragement,  coldness,  dul- 
ness,  temptation,  inconvenience  of  any  kind,  and  a  thousand 
other  opposing  causes,  would  be  sufficient,  in  most  cases,  to 
incline  the  will  to  neglect  attendance,  and  in  a  short  time, 
this  inestimable  regulation  would  sink  into  universal  neglect. 
Even  now,  with  the  restraints  of  obligation  imposed  and 
acknowledged,  how  few  of  the  vast  family  of  Methodism 
attend !  Remove  these,  and  the  results  may  be  foreseen 
and  portrayed  with  prophetic  certainty.  Unbounded  license 
given,  it  would  be  taken,  and  the  class  meeting  everywhere, 
as  it  now  is  in  some  places,  would  be  a  matter  of  cold  in- 
diJBPerence  and  occasional  observance.  A  few  might  cheer- 
fully attend  for  a  while,  but  these  would  soon  go  to  their  re- 
ward, and  the  class  meeting  become  obsolete,  as  the  Bands'' 
did,  and  like  them,*  be  formally  expunged  from  the  discipline 
as  no  longer  of  use,  and  then  the  path  to  other  alterations, 
if  not  entire  revolution,  would  be  open.    We  hesitate  not 


*  The  "Bands/'  with  every  thing  on  the  subject  of  them,  was  ex- 
punged from  the  discipline  at  our  last  Gen.  Conf.,  1854.  May  God  so 
revive  the  church  as  to  cause  their  restoration  ! 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


201 


to  express  again  our  conviction  that  the  Methodist  Church 
will  flourish  or  decline  as  the  class  meeting  is  observed  or 
disregarded ;  and  hence  we  cannot  consent  to  any  modification 
of  the  institution  that  would  encourage  its  neglect,  and  so 
promote  the  downfall  of  that  church  which  now,  through 
the  blessing  of  God,  it  contributes  so  much  to  uphold  and 
advance. 

6.  Another  objection  is,  There  is  no  Scripture  for  these 
classes.^'  We  have  already  considered  at  length  the  scrip- 
tural authority  for  them,  and  shall  here  only  add,  in  the 
language  of  Mr.  Wesley:  "(1.)  There  is  no  Scripture 
against  them.  You  cannot  show  one  text  that  forbids 
them.  (2.)  There  is  much  Scripture  for  them;  even  all  those 
texts  which  enjoin  the  substance  of  those  various  duties 
whereof  this  is  only  an  indifferent  circumstance,  to  be  de- 
termined by  reason  and  experience.  (3.)  You  seem  not  to 
have  observed,  that  the  Scripture,  in  most  points,  gives  only 
general  rules ;  and  leaves  the  particular  circumstance  to  be 
adjusted  by  the  common  sense  of  mankind.  The  Scripture, 
for  instance,  gives  that  general  rule,  ^  Let  all  things  be  done 
decently  and  in  order.'  But  common  sense  is  to  determine,^ 
on  particular  occasions,  what  order  and  decency  require. 
So,  in  another  instance,  the  Scripture  lays  it  down  as  a 
general,  standing  direction  :  ^  Whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  or 
whatever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.'  But  it  is  com- 
mon prudence  which  is  to  make  the  application  of  this,  in 
a  thousand  particular  cases.'' If  the  Scriptures  substan- 
tially, reason,  experience,  common  sense,  and  common  pru- 
dence do  not  support '  this  institution  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  then  we  must  yield  to  the  objection;  but  if  they  do, 
(and  that  they  do,  none  with  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  in- 
stitution can  honestly  deny,)  then  the  objection  falls  to  the 
ground. 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  v.  pp.  180,  181, 


202  OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 

7.  Others  object,  The  thing  is  well  enough  in  itself. 
But  the  leaders  are  incompetent  for  the  work :  they  have 
neither  gifts  nor  graces  for  such  an  employment.^'  Admit- 
ting this  to  be  true,  whenever  it  does  occur,  unqualified 
leaders  should  be  removed,  and  suitable  ones  be  appointed. 
The  want  of  qualification  in  an  officer  to  discharge  the  ap- 
propriate business  of  his  office,  does  not  annul  the  authority 
or  disprove  the  importance  of  the  office ;  and  hence,  while 
improper  leaders  should  be  removed,  and  suitable  ones  be 
appointed,  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  meet  with  their  class  till 
this  be  done,  or  join  some  other  class,  if  this  be  not  or  can- 
not be  done.  And  yet  the  advantages  of  meeting  in  class 
are  not  confined  wholly  to  the  care  of  the  leader,  whether 
qualified  to  instruct  properly  or  not;  but  depend  for  the  most 
part  upon  faithful  self-examination,  reflection,  meditation, 
humble  communion  with  Grod,  and  the  relation  of  Christian 
experience  given  by  other  members  of  the  class,  which  is 
often  most  encouraging  to  one  in  trial,  or  under  temptation, 
or  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness. Inde- 
pendently of  the  leader,  the  advantages  of  the  class  are  so 
great,  that  any  one  exercising  the  proper  spirit  may  derive 
much  spiritual  profit  from  it,  though  the  leader  possess  but 
a  small  amount  of  gifts  and  graces,  while  it  is  admitted  that 
the  profit  would  be  greatest,  if  leaders  best  qualified  were, 
or  could  always  be,  appointed.  But  this  cannot  always  be 
done,  and  we  should  always  be  content  with  the  best  that 
can  be  done,  when,  such  leaders  as  they  are,  it  is  plain  God 
blesses  their  labor.  Beside,  faithful  leaders  will  improve 
by  experience  and  observation,  and  in  time  may  be  what  you 
desire.  But  after  all,  the  remedy  is  at  hand  :  if  your  leader 
be  unqualified,  tell  your  pastor,  and,  if  it  be  practicable,  he 
will  exchange  him  for  a  better,  or  remove  you  to  the  charge 
of  a  better.  And  yet  the  inquiry  is  at  least  admissible,  Do 
you  not  rather  object  to  meeting  in  class,  than  to  the  leader? 
If  not,  and  a  better  leader  cannot  be  obtained,  you  ought 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


203 


to  be  satisfied  with  your  present  leader,  and  so  agree  to  share 
with  your  class  in  its  want  of  such  a  leader  as  you  desire. 
Meantime,  probably  you  ought  to  be  a  leader,  for  so  it  would 
seem,  from  the  want  of  ability  in  others  to  teach  you. 

8.  There  are  paany  in  these  classes  who  are  a  reproach 
to  the  church,  and  with  them  I  cannot  consent  to  meet.'' 
The  fact  is  admitted,  and  the  existence  of  it  regretted ;  but 
your  conclusion  by  no  means  follows. 

(1.)  Among  the  twelve  apostles  there  was  a  treacherous 
Judas,  and  an  unfaithful  Peter.  Ananias  and  Sapphira 
were  in  the  church  in  its  purest  state.  In  the  church  at 
Corinth  there  were  those  who  dishonored  their  holy  profes- 
sion. St.  Paul  wept  while  writing  to  the  church  at  Philippi 
(his  favorite  church)  respecting  many  whose  life  was  dis- 
orderly, and  "whose  end  was  destruction.''  Christ  exhorted 
and  admonished  the  church  at  Ephesus  to  return  to  their 
"  first  love,"  and  found  but  few  in  the  church  at  Sardis 
whose  "garments  were  unspotted."  In  civil  government 
there  are  many  who  are  disobedient,  and  in  political,  many 
who  are  traitors.  In  the  currency  of  the  country,  there  is 
much  of  counterfeit  coin  and  paper.  Among  men  there 
are  many  who  are  guilty  of  extravagance  and  intempe- 
rance. Yet  shall  these  cause  us  to  decline  all  the  advan- 
tages of  Christian  fellowship,  and  all  the  privileges  of 
civil  and  political  government,  and  all  the  benefits  of  a 
sound  currency,  and  all  the  blessings  of  frugality  and 
temperance  ? 

(2.)  The  treachery  of  Judas,  and  the  unfaithfulness 
of  Peter,  did  not  discharge  the  rest  of  the  apostles  from 
obligation  to  Christ;  nor  did  the  unfaithful  in  Corinth, 
and  Philippi,  and  Sardis,  release  the  faithful  in  those 
churches  from  responsibility  to  continue  in  them,  and  observe 
the  regulations  imposed  by  the  apostles.  Personal  obliga- 
tion yet  remained  to  them  in  all  its  original  force.  Every 
Christian  stands  or  falls  to  Grod  alone.    My  duty  to  God 


204 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


and  his  church  loses  none  of  its  force  in  consequence  of  the 
improprieties  and  crimes  of  others. 

(3.)  If  neglect  to  meet  with  such  persons  in  class  were 
enough  to  vindicate  my  character  and  reputation^  is  it 
enough  to  vindicate  the  honor  of  God  ?  Should  I  not  have 
more  regard  for  the  honor  of  God  than  for  my  own  reputa- 
tion ?  though  this  is  not  the  proper  statement  of  the  ques- 
tion ;  for  in  vindicating  the  honor  of  God,  I  defend  my  own. 
Yet  the  objection  proceeds  upon  the  supposition,  that  my 
reputation  only  is  involved  in  the  case,  while  as  a  Christian 
my  reputation  sinks  or  rises  with  the  honor  of  God ;  and  if 
required,  I  should  consent  to  be  of  no  reputation,  in  a  worldly 
sense,  for  Christ's  sake. 

(4.)  But  the  evil  complained  of  may  be  removed.  Per- 
sons of  immoral  lives,  after  the  proper  trial,  should  be  ex- 
pelled from  the  church.  The  honor  and  prosperity  of  the 
church  require  this,  and  every  well-regulated  church  will 
see  that  this  be  done. 

9.  ^^I  cannot  speak  my  experience  before  those  who  have 
more  knowledge  and  grace  than  I  have.''  You  should  not 
confound  natural  timidity  and  reserve  with  a  modest 
courage,  or  suppose  that  this  infirmity  is  inconsistent  with 
a  proper  dignity  of  deportment.  The  reluctance  to  speak 
before  those  who  have  made  superior  attainments  in  the 
knowledge  of  divine  things,  should  be  subdued  by  the  hope 
of  obtaining  instruction  from  them.  But  this  is  not  a 
question  of  ordinary  propriety,  but  one  of  duty  and  privi- 
lege— a  duty  binding  upon  all  the  class  alike — a  privilege 
belonging  to  all  alike ;  and  it  is  sinful  to  neglect  the  duty, 
and  unwise  to  abuse  the  privilege.  Beside,  your  principal 
object  in  joining  the  class  should  have  been  to  learn ,  and 
not  to  teach ;  and  you  cannot  be  taught  till  your  case  is 
known,  and  you  should  be  content  to  be  a  learner  till  you 
can  become  a  teacher.  Finally,  may  not  pride,  and  not  a 
♦sense  of  propriety,  be  at  the  foundation  of  this  objection  ? 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


205 


Having  but  little  knowledge  of  divine  things,  are  you  not 
unwilling  to  confess  it  ?  If  it  be  pride,  then  it  is  a  great 
evil  to  be  subdued,  and  duty  now  is  plain  and  imperious. 
If  it  be  pride,  cut  the  matter  short,  and  resist,  overcome  it. 
If  it  be  pride,  you  can  go  no  farther  till  it  is  resisted  and 
overcome.  If  it  be  pride,  you  will  lose  the  little  knowledge 
you  have,  till  it  is  resisted  and  subdued.  If  it  be  pride, 
you  will  certainly  be  lost  finally  and  eternally,  unless  you 
resist  and  subdue  it.  And  here  is  the  test :  Are  you  silent 
on  subjects  with  which  you  are  familiar,  and  which  are 
congenial  to  you  ?  such  as  your  favorite  opinions,  your 
occupation,  your  plans,  your  property,  your  successes,  your 
amusements,  your  friends,  your  connections,  and  your 
worldly  prospects  ?  Or,  in  matters  of  great  temporal 
importance,  do  you  permit  a  consciousness  of  ignorance  or 
inexperience  to  restrain  you  from  seeking  from  others  the 
required  information  ?  Would  you  rather  rush  headlong 
into  imminent  danger,  and  proudly  perish,  than  seek  a  way 
of  certain  escape  and  safety?  Should  the  child  be  too 
proud  to  be  guided  by  his  parent?  or  the  pupil  to  be 
instructed  by  his  teacher  ?  or  the  soldier  to  be  directed  by 
his -general  ?  or  the  blind  man  to  be  lead  by  a  friend  ?  or 
the  dying  man  to  take  the  healing  medicine  ?  or  the  starv- 
ing man  to  receive  the  restoring  food?  May  God  gra- 
ciously help  you  to  make  a  proper  and  useful  application  of 
these  illustrations  ! 

10.  Some  are  ashamed  to  speak  of  their  religious  feelings 
before  company.  This  may  be  true  of  many  worthy  young 
members,  but  this  also  is  an  infirmity  which  it  may  be 
difficult  at  first  to  overcome.  But  does  a  weakness  of  this 
nature  justify  silence  in  any  one,  on  any  subject,  when  he 
should  speak,  especially  on  the  great  subject  of  experi- 
mental religion,  in  which  every  Christian  is  so  deeply 
interested,  and  on  which,  it  is  expected,  every  Christian  has 
something  to  say  ?    The  sense  of  duty  should  triumph  over 

18 


206 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


the  sense  of  weakness  or  timidity.  Introduced  into  new 
associations,  and  called  upon  to  engage  in  new  exercises,  and 
to  relate  an  experience  wholly  new,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
some  should  feel  a  sense  of  timidity  upon  their  first  entrance 
into  the  class-room.  But  this  will  soon  subside;  and,  to 
the  most  timid,  the  service  of  the  class  meeting  will  sopn 
become  a  delightful  exercise.  Make  the  trial,  and  never 
stop  till  this  weakness  is  subdued.  Indeed,  this  objection 
is  for  the  most  part  imaginary.  A  single  sentence  uttered 
in  the  discharge  of  duty,  and  God  ordinarily  gives  such  a 
blessing  that  timidity  is  at  once  forgotten,  and  great  liberty 
is  enjoyed,  which  would  be  a  pleasant  way  to  refute  this 
objection  ? 

Why  should  you  object  to  communicate  your  experience 
in  the  presence  of  religious  friends  ?  Men  of  real  delicacy 
and  worth,  under  the  impulse  of  virtuous  motives,  have  not 
hesitated  to  write  and  publish  their  varied  experience  to  the 
world.  In  all  ages  of  the  church,  faithful  and  pious  men, 
by  epistolary  correspondence,  have  communicated  the  whole 
of  their  religious  states  to  each  other;  and  the  pages  of 
Tjhurch  history  are  adorned  with  an  infinite  variety  of 
spiritual  letters.  Perhaps  you  are  in  constant  correspond- 
ence with  religious  friends  on  the  various  and  important 
subjects  of  your  own  religious  experience.  The  Bible  is 
pre-eminently  a  book  of  this  nature.  The  practice  is  con- 
genial to  moral  friendship  and  social  piety.  Why,  then, 
should  you  object  to  avowing  and  disclosing  your  religious 
feelings  to  religious  friends,  accompanied  with  all  the 
endearments  of  spiritual  fellowship,  which  is  more  pleasing 
and  advantageous  than  is  possible  by  letter  ?  Indeed,  you 
do  not  object  to  religious  conversation  occasionally  with  a 
single  friend :  why,  then,  object  to  the  weekly  classes, 
which  afford  a  greater  variety  of  cases,  and  furnish  you  with 
the  double  privilege  of  saying  but  little  and  hearing  much;  of 
telling  your  own  experience  and  hearing  that  of  many  others? 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


207 


11.  ^^I  am  not  worthy  to  meet  with  the  people  of  God  in 
such  holy  fellowship. A  sense  of  unworthiness  entitles 
you  to  the  privilege^  and  this  fear  will  lead  you  to  pray  the 
more  earnestly  for  divine  help^  and  incline  you  to  receive 
the  more  cheerfully  and  promptly  the  instructions  and 
counsels  of  the  leader  and  the  more  experienced  members 
of  the  class. 

12.  Others  honestly  say,  ^^I  do  not  know  why;  but  I  do 
not  like  class  meetings/^  And  you  never  will  find  a  satis- 
factory reason  to  justify  your  indisposition  to  them.  Is  it 
rational — can  you  ever  be  contented — to  leave  a  solemn 
question  of  duty  unsettled  in  this  manner  ?  Do  you  know 
why  you  are  a  Methodist  ?  If  you  do,  then  a  moment's 
consideration  will  convince  you  why  you  should  meet  with 
your  class,  though  at  first  you  should  not  like  to  do  it. 
There  is  the  same  reason  why  you  should  discharge  one 
duty  as  another ;  and  mere  dislike,  especially  when  there  is 
no  intelligible  and  satisfactory  reason  to  justify  it,  can  never 
be  a  sufficient  ground  for  neglecting  any  duty.  In  the 
act  of  joining  the  Methodist  Church,  you  solemnly  pledged 
yourself  to  observe  all  its  requisitions  and  attend  to  all  its 
means  of  grace,  having  at  the  time  prominently  before  your 
mind  the  class  meeting,  which  is  a  peculiar  and  distinguish- 
ing institution  of  Methodism.  Mere  dislike  does  not  annul 
the  obligation  you  then  assumed.  What  then  ?  Your 
dislike  becomes  the  occasion  to  take  up  a  cross,  from  which 
you  should  never  shrink,  but  bless  God  for  it :  for,  in  taking 
it  up,  he  will  bless  you  under  it. 

There  are  several  other  objections,  such  as,  ^'I  do  not 
wish  to  be  hypocritical  "  Many,  who  give  a  flaming 
experience,  are  hypocritical Religious  feelings  are  too 
sacred  to  be  revealed  to  others and  such  like — all  of 
which  are  too  trivial  to  demand  a  moment's  consideration ; 
and  we  pass  to  the  examination  of  excuses  for  the  neglect 
of  class  meetings. 


CHAPTER  II. 


EXCUSES  EXAMINED. 

Objections  are  urged  by  those  who  oppose  class  meet- 
ings ;  excuses  are  made  by  those  who  acknowledge  their 
obligation  to  attend  them,  and  are  given  in  extenuation  of 
failure  to  do  so. 

1.  ^^I  cannot  speak  as  well  as  others.'^  All  cannot  speak 
with  the  same  ease  and  freedom,  and  some  are  endowed 
naturally  with  a  better  elocution  than  others.  It  is  sim- 
plicity and  truth,  and  not  a  fine  and  eloquent  speech,  that 
we  expect  in  class  meeting;  and  hence  illiterate  people, 
ordinarily,  in  a  plain  and  unstudied  manner,  and  such  is 
always  the  language  of  the  heart,  succeed  better  in  relating 
what  God  has  done  for  their  souls  than  those  who  express 
themselves  in  more  intelligent  and  elegant  phrases.  In  a 
manner  new  and  peculiar  to  themselves,  they  relate  the  vices 
and  miseries  of  their  former  lives;  how  they  heard  and 
received  the  gospel ;  how  severly  they  suffered  under  con- 
viction of  sin ;  how  they  overcame  their  besetting  sins  and 
the  devices  of  Satan ;  how  the  promises  were  applied ;  and 
how  the  love  of  Grod  was  shed  abroad  in  their  hearts :  and 
all  this  is  done  with  such  an  humble  boldness  and  artless- 
ness  as  cannot  fail  to  interest  and  instruct  intelligent 
believers.  In  these  innocent  people,  taught  of  God,  and 
incapable  of  hypocrisy,  religion  shines  forth  in  its  native 
beauty  and  power,  and  skepticism  is  refuted,  and  faith  con- 
firmed. They  prove  the  authenticity  of  the  Scriptures,  not 
by  the  force  of  formal  and  learned  arguments,  but  by  the 
effect  of  the  threatenings  under  which  they  have  groaned 
208 


EXCUSES  EXAMINED. 


209 


and  shuddered,  and  the  excellency  of  the  promises  whose 
sweetness  they  have  enjoyed.  They  attempt  no  vindication 
of  the  miracles,  nor  defenc :  of  the  divinity  of  Christ ;  but 
they  evince  his  equality  and  glorification  with  the  Father 
by  the  gift  of  the  in-dwelling  Comforter.  They  contend  not 
for  the  divine  authority  of  the  Christian  faith;  but  they 
demonstrate  its  omnipotence  by  its  triumphs  over  them- 
selves and  the  world,  and  its  transforming  eJBfects  in  their 
own  hearts.  They  pretend  not  to  argue  in  support  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul;  but  they  deduce  the  great  truth 
from  the  blissful  visions  of  the  future  state  which  divine 
grace  inspires,  and  from  the  ennobling  hope  of  being 
exalted  to  the  image  and  presence  of  God,  which  is  a  daily 
fact  in  their  experience.  There  is  an  interior,  spiritual 
kingdom,  ample,  ever  new,  progressive,  boundless,  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  a  universe  of  facts,  as  real,  substantial, 
and  as  satisfactorily  known  to  the  consciousness  t>f  the  true 
believer  as  the  external,  sensible,  actual  universe  of  facts, 
called  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  without  us.  These  in- 
ternal, spiritual  facts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  humble, 
simple,  and  illiterate  can  understand  as  easily  and  as  well 
as- the  most  intelligent  Christians  can,  for  they  are  the  same 
in  all  true  believers :  as  the  sun  is  a  great  fact  in  the 
natural  world,  as  clearly  known  to  the  illiterate  as  to  the 
philosopher,  so  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  is 
a  great  fact,  as  clearly  known  to  the  unlearned  as  to  the 
wise  believer.  Thus,  "  The  poor,'^  says  Christ,  have  the 
gospel  preached  unto  them;''  and  St.  James  says,  ^^Has 
not  God  chosen  the  poor  of  this  world  rich  in  faith  and 
heirs  of  the  kingdom  This  is  the  great  foundation  and 
defence  of  Methodism,  and  the  source  of  the  experimental 
facts  related  in  the  classes.  What  has  God  done  for  you 
and  in  you?  Speak  of  that,  describe  that,  in  your  own 
language,  just  as  you  describe  in  your  own  language  what 
he  has  done  in  the  natural  world. 


210 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


2,  ^^I  have  not  time  for  its  regular  observance.'^  What!  - 
not  one  hour  in  seven  days,  and  that  hour  sometimes  on 
the  Sabbath  day  ?  One  hour  in  seven  days  spent  in  Chris- 
tian fellowship  is  but  a  small  proportion ;  and  that  man  is 
worldly-minded  who  will  not  give  that  small  amount  to  the 
spiritual  exercises  of  the  class  meeting,  who  is  unwilling 
to  devote  so  small  a  proportion  of  his  time  to  the  examina- 
tion of  his  soul  and  religious  communion  with  his  brethren. 
The  duties  of  religion  require  the  use  of  time,  and  therefore 
the  claims  of  secular  life  should  not  be  permitted  to  con- 
sume all  our  time.  Again :  the  obligation  to  discharge 
strictly  spiritual  duties,  and  the  obligation  to  attend  to  secu- 
lar duties,  are  not  in  conflict :  you  are  responsible  for  both ; 
both  will  enter  into  the  final  account,  and  make  out  the 
final  sentence.  What!  will  you  give  all  your  life  to  the 
acquisition  of  a  fortune,  and  scarcely  one  whole  hour  at 
a  time  to  the  salvation  of  your  soul  ?  Cannot  a  sense 
of  duty  arrest  your  impetuosity  ?  Cannot  a  sense  of  vio- 
lated obligation  do  it  ?  Must  you  wait  for  sickness  to 
do  it  ?  Can  death  alone  do  it  ?  Not  one  hour  in  seven  for 
your  soul,  for  God,  for  death,  for  judgment,  for  eternity, 
to  escape  hell,  and  prepare  for  heaven  !  Oh,  this  is  mourn- 
ful, it  is  dreadful  I  but  it  is  not  surprising  that  you  are  well 
nigh,  if  not  altogether,  a  backslider  in  heart  as  well  as  life. 
What  account  will  you  give  to  God  for  these  lost  hours  ? 
how  will  you  justify  yourself  before  him  for  all  this  hurry 
in  the  world  ?  When  time  with  you  is  ended,  and  you  are 
lost,  what  then  ?  Not  a  soul  in  hell  can  lift  his  hands  and 
say,  I  had  not  time  to  save  myself,^'  for  he  had  not  time 
for  any  thing  else. 

3.  ^^I  have  company  or  expect  company  this  hour.'' 
You  should  not  have  made  engagement  for  company  at  this 
hour,  because  you  had  an  antecedent  engagement  to  meet 
with  the  people  of  God  at  this  very  time,  which  is  of  a  very 
weighty  character.    Must  God  waive  his  rights  to  permit 


EXCUSES  EXAMINED. 


211 


you  to  wait  on  your  friends  ?  Must  Grod  release  you  from 
waiting  on  him,  lest  your  friends  should  take  it  ill  should 
you  fail  to  wait  on  them  ?  Will  he  permit  you  to  waste  your 
time  in  conventional  compliments  and  courtesies,  when  you 
should  be  employed  in  holy  fellowship  with  him  and  his 
people  ?  However,  the  expected  company,  if  it  be  worthy 
of  your  respect,  upon  finding  you  absent  from  home,  will 
admire  you  more  for  your  consistency  of  character,  as  a 
Christian,  than  they  would  have  done  for  any  reception  you 
might  have  given  them ;  and  so  they  will  admire  you  the 
more,  should  you  excuse  yourself  from  them  when  the  hour 
for  class  meeting  has  arrived,  than  they  would  have  done 
had  you  remained,  and  thus  have  neglected  a  solemn  and 
religious  duty.  Many  professors  of  religion  think  more  of 
receiving  and  paying  fashionable  visits  than  they  do  of  the 
duties  and  privileges  of  religious  intercourse,  and  feel  more 
sensibly  condemned  when  they  neglect  to  return  the  visits 
of  friends  and  acquaintance,  than  when  they  neglect,  though 
it  be  for  many  months  or  years,  the  obligations  of  religion ; 
and  they  feel  a  higher  degree  of  satisfaction  in  paying  off 
old  visits,  that  had  daily  oppressed  their  conscience,  than 
they  do  in  observing  some  long-neglected  means  of  grace. 
For  them  the  parlor  has  more  charms  than  the  church,  and 
fashionable  life  more  interest  than  duty  to  God;  and  so  it 
is  easy  to  sacrifice  the  latter  to  the  former,  and  to  invent 
specious  excuses  for  indulging  in  the  one  and  neglecting 
the  other.  But  this  is  an  evidence  of  a  worldly  spirit,  which 
cannot  be  indulged  in  for  a  moment,  or  in  a  single  instance, 
without  a  sensible  loss  of  religious  comfort,  and,  finally,  of 
all  vital  godliness.  True  refinement,  however,  never  de- 
mands the  neglect  of  a  single  religious  duty,  and  is  not  in- 
consistent with  the  highest  religious  attainments.  If  reli- 
gion should  shine  anywhere  it  is  in  the  parlor,  and  surely 
the  parlor  is  not  the  place  where  religion  should  be  considered 
as  subordinate,  or  from  which,  by  Christians  especially,  it 


212 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


should  be  excluded  as  a  matter  of  politeness.  How  vain  the 
excuse,  then,  that  mere  common  politeness  requires  legiti- 
mately the  abrogation  or  even  the  suspension  of  religious 
obligation.  That  which  demands  this  of  the  Christian  is 
not  true  politeness,  but  is  a  morbid  conventional  taste,  a 
fascinating  corruption  of  good  manners,  hostile  alike  to  so- 
cial happiness  and  vital  piety.  In  a  word,  religion  hallows 
and  elevates  social  life,  and  whatever  tends  to  degenerate 
religion  must  impair  social  life;  and  wherever  there  is  an 
alternative  between  the  maxims  and  customs  of  fashionable 
society,  and  the  plain  and  standing  requirements  of  religion, 
duty  imperiously  demands  that  we  scrupulously  preserve  our 
Christian  integrity  and  consistency. 

4.  ^^My  business  demands  my  attention  this  hour." 
That  may  be,  and  you  are  excusable  whenever  this  is  so. 
But  it  must  be  unavoidable  business,  for  nothing  less  than 
this  renders  you  excusable.  See  you  to  that.  Keligion 
does  not  require  the  neglect  of  your  business,  but  a  faithful 
attention  to  it.  Nor  should  your  business  cause  you  to  ne- 
glect your  religion.  Neither  need  be  neglected,  and  you 
should  make  such  an  arrangement  of  your  time  and  plans 
as  to  be  able  to  give  to  each  its  due  proportion  of  attention.  • 
Do  this,  and  both  business  and  religion  will  flourish  in  ad- 
mirable harmony.  If  possible,  never  let  there  be  any 
conflict. 

5.  Distance  renders  it  exceedingly  inconvenient  for  me 
to  attend  my  class  meeting  regularly.^'  That  may  be,  too. 
But  is  distance  regarded  as  an  insurmountable  obstacle  in 
secular  things,  which  are  matters  of  inferior  importance  ? 
Where  there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way,  if  a  way  is  pos- 
sible. Is  it  possible  to  meet  with  your  class  ?  Then  attend 
when  you  can ;  the  advantage  of  attendance  will  more  than 
repay  you  for  all  the  trouble  endured  in  overcoming  the  in- 
convenience. Is  the  present  arrangement  to  meet  in  class 
the  best  that  can  be  made?   Then  you  must  put  up  with  it, 


EXCUSES  EXAMINED. 


213 


or  lose  the  advantages  of  class  meeting  altogether.  But  if 
a  more  convenient  arrangement  can  be  made^  let  it  be  done, 
(and  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  done^)  and,  if 
you  can  secure  this  arrangement,  you  are  responsible  for  the 
neglect  of  class  meeting  till  it  is  made.  In  the  stations 
this  excuse  is  rarely  tenable.  In  the  circuits  it  is  some- 
times different,  but  even  here  ordinarily  it  is  as  convenient 
to  attend  class  as  it  is  to  attend  preaching,  and  then  the  ex- 
cuse for  neglecting  preaching  would  be  as  good  as  it  is  for 
neglecting  class  meeting.  In  both  circuits  and  stations,  in 
most  cases,  the  inconvenience  really  exists  rather  in  the 
heart  than  in  the  distance  from  the  church  or  the  class- 
room :  it  is  rather  a  contest  with  self  than  with  external 
circumstances.  Where  this  is  so,  no  one  can  conscientiously 
plead  this  excuse. 

6.  I  must  take  some  time  to  visit  other  churches  beside 
my  own,  and  this  often  occurs  when  my  class  meets. This 
is  an  excuse  of  the  circuits,  and  is  easily  answered.  Your 
church  first,  especially  your  class  meeting ;  and  then,  when 
convenient,  you  are  at  liberty  to  visit  other  churches.  Every 
thing  in  its  order.  You  cannot  cancel  one  duty  by  discharg- 
ing another.  Particular  and  standing  duties  cannot  be  set 
aside  by  remote  and  general  causes.  It  may  be  agreeable 
and  profitable  occasionally  to  visit  other  churches,  but  this 
should  never  be  done  when  obligation  calls  you  to  class,  and 
when  your  own  church  is  justly  entitled  to  your  influence. 
The  order  of  the  church,  in  which  is  consulted  the  spiritual 
profit  of  all  its  members,  cannot  be  violated  without  pro- 
ducing some  confusion  ;  and  the  occasional  avoidable  neglect 
of  class  meeting,  tends  greatly  to  divest  it  of  its  importance. 
Ordinarily  more  spiritual  profit  is  derived  from  the  class 
meeting  than  from  the  public  exercises  of  preaching  in  our 
own  church,  with  which  we  are  so  familiar;  and  consequently 
far  more  can  be  derived  from  this  means  of  grace  than  is 
possible  from  the  public  services  of  other  churches,  with 


214 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


which  we  are  not  so  familiar.  An  idle  curiosity,  a  worldly 
spirit,  may  impel  you  to  neglect  class  meeting  in  this  case : 
see  you  to  that.  A  sense  of  duty  may  urge  you  to  the  class, 
but  indisposition  to  yield  may  be  confounded  with  a  sup- 
posed propriety  of  attending  divine  service  elsewhere  this 
timC;  and  so  also  the  next  time,  till,  under  the  specious  pre- 
tence of  charitable  communion  with  sister  churches,  the 
class  meeting  is  abandoned  entirely.  The  question  can  be 
settled  in  a  moment :  if  you  have  no  compunctions  of  con- 
science on  the  subject,  if  you  conscientiously  believe  that 
you  can  glorify  Grod  better,  and  improve  your  spiritual  con- 
dition more,  by  neglecting  your  class  in  this  manner,  then 
you  are  justified  in  doing  it ;  if  not,  then  the  path  of  duty 
is  plain  :  meet  with  your  class  punctually  and  regularly. 

In  the  evening,^^  says  Mr.  "Wesley,  I  returned  to  Nor- 
wich. Never  was  a  poor  society  so  neglected  as  this  has 
been  for  the  past  year.  The  morning  preaching  was  at  an 
end ;  the  bands  suffered  all  to  fail  in  pieces ;  and  no  care  at 
all  tahen  of  the  classes,  so  that  lohether  they  met  or  not,  it 
was  all  one;  going  to  church  and  sacrament  were  forgotten; 
and  the  people  rambled  hither  and  thither  as  they  listed. 
On  Friday  evening  I  met  the  society,  and  told  them  plain, 
I  was  resolved  to  have  a  regular  society  or  none.  I  then 
read  the  rules,  and  desired  every  one  to  consider  whether  he 
was  willing  to  walk  by  those  rules  or  no.  TJiose,  in  particu- 
lar, of  meeting  their  class  every  week,  unless  hindered  hy 
distance  or  sickness,  (the  only  reasons  for  not  meeting  which 
I  could  allow,^  and  being  constant  at  church  and  sacra- 
ment."* 

7.  But  I  can  meet  with  my  preacher  when  he  visits  the 
class,  and  it  makes  not  much  difference  if  I  fail  to  meet 
regularly  with  my  leader.'^  This  is  also  an  excuse  of  the 
circuits.    But  the  preacher  may  not  come  regularly  ]  and 


*  Wesley'e  Works  vol.  iv.  p.  427. 


EXCUSES  EXAMINED. 


215 


wien  he  does  come,  he  may  not  be  disposed  to  meet  the 
class,  or  he  may  be  so  taken  up  with  other  matters  that  he 
has  not  time  to  attend  to  this  duty ;  or  he  may  neglect  to 
meet  the  class  under  the  belief  that  the  leader  has  attended 
to  his  duty;  and  thus  you  neglect  the  leader,  and  the 
preacher  neglects  you.  Beside,  upon  your  plan,  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  Methodist  Church,  the  very  princi- 
ple upon  which  the  classes  are  founded,  is  violated.  It  has 
already  been  shown  that  the  system  of  the  classes  is  essen- 
tial to  the  efficiency  and  success  of  an  itinerant  ministry, 
and  such  is  our  ministry.  Thus,  the  frequent  and  necessary 
absence  of  the  pastor  to  visit  other  portions  of  his  circuit, 
requires  the  aid  of  the  leaders  to  oversee  the  flock  at  the 
very  time  you  fail  to  meet  your  class.  That  is,  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  class  meeting  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor  you 
voluntarily  forego,  and  are  content  with  the  discharge  of  but 
half  your  duty,  probably  not  even  that.  You  might  ^  just 
as  well  neglect  to  meet  with  your  pastor  in  class,  as  with 
your  leader ;  for  the  duty  to  attend  is  the  same  in  both 
cases,  and  unspeakable  advantages  are  derived  from  both. 
The  disposition  to  neglect  duty  in  one  case  indicates  a  dispo- 
sition to  neglect  it  in  the  other  :  it  may  be  you  do  both.  It 
may  be  there  are  two  preachers  appointed  to  your  circuit, 
and  you  may  meet  in  class  with  but  one  of  these ;  and  then 
at  most  you  do  not  meet  in  class  more  than  eight  or  ten 
times  in  twelve  months,  and  probably  not  half  that  number. 
Indeed,  loJien  were  you  at  class  ?  Do  you  meet  in  class  with 
the  preacher  at  all  ?  do  you  meet  with  the  leader  at  all  ?  I 
fear  not. 

But  this  is  not  all.  It  is  more  profitable  to  meet  with  the 
leader  than  with  the  preacher,  because  you  have  more  time 
for  the  exercises  of  the  class  meeting,  such  as  self-examina- 
tion, instruction,  exhortation,  prayer,  and  praise.  And  then 
you  will  be  the  better  prepared  to  meet  in  class  with  your 
pastor  when  he  visits  your  part  of  the  circuit.    The  leader 


216 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


will  be  able  to  give  a  most  favorable  report  of  you  to  him. 
The  leader  will  be  encouraged  ]  the  pastor  will  be  encouraged; 
the  other  members  of  the  class  will  be  encouraged;  the 
church  generally  will  be  encouraged,  and  point  to  you  as  an 
example ;  you  will  be  encouraged,  and  Grod  will  greatly  bless 
you  in  time  of  trouble,  in  life,  and  in  death.  Finally,  it  is 
a  much  better  evidence  of  sincerity,  consistency,  zeal,  devo- 
tion to  the  church,  and  deep  piety,  to  meet  in  class  regularly 
with  your  leader,  than  occasionally  with  your  pastor,  because 
then  the  ordinary  motives  to  meet  and  mingle  with  the 
general  congregation  when  the  preacher  comes  cannot  be 
the  reasons  that  induce  you  to  meet  with  the  humble  and 
pious  few  who  assemble  with  the  leader  solely  for  religious 
objects. 

8.  But  if  I  attend  faithfully  to  all  the  other  means  of 
grace  connected  with  the  church,  I  may,  without  much  loss, 
occasionally  neglect  my  class. In  the  first  place,  do  you 
faithfully  attend  to  all  the  other  means  of  grace  ?  Do  you 
ever  neglect,  without  sufficient  cause,  the  preaching  of  the 
word?  Do  you  ever  neglect  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
supper,  whether  it  is  administered  monthly,  as  in  the  stations, 
or  quarterly,  as  it  is  ordinarily  done  on  the  circuits  ?  Do  you 
ever  neglect  the  weekly  preaching,  whether  in  the  stations 
or  on  the  circuits  ?  Do  you  read  the  Bible  regularly  and 
devotionally  ?  Do  you  observe  the  regular  public  prayer- 
meetings  ?  Do  you  faithfully  observe  private  prayer  ?  and 
if  the  head  of  a  family,  do  you  ever  omit,  without  a  good 
reason,  the  morning  and  evening  social  service,  family 
prayer  ?  Do  you  ever  fast,  either  weekly,  or  preparatory  to 
the  quarterly  meeting,  or  in  time  of  temptation,  or  at  all  ? 
Do  you  ever  meditate  long,  and  deeply,  and  with  delight 
upon  spiritual  things  ?  for  meditation  is  a  means  of  grace. 
Do  you  ever  subject  your  heart  to  a  severe  and  honest  ex- 
amination ?  and  self-examination  is  a  means  of  grace.  Do 
you  ever  converse  with  pious  friends  upon  holy  things,  the 


EXCUSES  EXAMINED. 


217 


hopes  and  the  joys  of  the  Christian  ?  and  conversation  is  a 
means  of  grace.  Do  you  ever  exercise  self-denial  in  re- 
pressing the  glowing  ardor  of  a  worldly  spirit  ?  and  the 
exercise  of  self-denial  is  a  means  of  grace  of  singular  ad- 
vantage. If  you  are  in  the  regular  discharge  of  all  these 
duties,  then  you  are  the  last  man  in  the  church  of  God  to 
make  the  excuse  under  consideration.  To  you  the  class 
meeting  should  have  heightened  and  peculiar  charms,  and, 
of  all  men,  you  should  be  among  those  who  hold  the  class 
meeting  in  the  highest  estimation.  There  is  a  plain  and 
irreconcilable  contradiction  in  the  terms  of  the  excuse. 
Secondly,  consistently  with  the  nature  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  you  cannot  be  all  that  the  excuse  assumes,  and 
at  the  same  time  habitually  neglect  the  class  meeting. 
Though  you  observe  faithfully  every  others  means  of  grace, 
you  cannot,  without  great  loss,  neglect  the  class  meeting. 
Supposing  you  have  observed  faithfully  every  other  means  of 
grace,  you  are  not  what  you  might  have  been,  had  you  faith- 
fully observed  this  means  of  grace.  No  matter  what  else  you 
do  as  a  Methodist,  you  can  never  become  what  you  may  be 
by  the  additional  and  proper  observance  of  the  class  meeting. 
Take  your  experience.  What  progress  have  you  made  since 
neglect  commenced  ?  Any  sensible  progress  at  all  ?  Com- 
pare your  present  state  with  what  you  were  when  just  con- 
verted to  God,  or  when  your  earliest  attention  was  faithfully 
given  to  the  class  meeting.  Did  not  every  means  of  grace 
then  glow  with  spiritual  life  and  comfort  ?  Are  they  not 
now  comparatively  lifeless  and  comfortless  to  you  ?  Have 
you  not  already  suffered  a  great  and  sensible  loss  in  experi- 
mental religion  ?  Have  you  not  fallen  from  your  first 
love  To  what  a  dark  depth  have  you  fallen  ?  Thirdly, 
upon  your  principle,  the  class  system  might  be  abolished 
altogether,  and  then  farewell  to  Methodism.  Fourthly,  if 
you  are  right,  then  the  fathers  and  reflecting  men  of  Method- 
ism have  been  strangely  mistaken  in  their  estimate  of  the 

19 


218 


ORTECnOXS  AND  EXCUSES. 


importance  of  the  class-system.  Finally,  the  only  assign- 
able ground  of  your  excuse,  is  a  growing  indifference  to 
Tital  godlines,  or  a  gradual  declension  in  spiritual  experience. 
May  God  rouse  you  as  from  the  dead  I 

9.  "  I  met  with  my  class  last  week,  and  shall  not  attend 
this  week.^^  Then  you  wish  to  keep  up  a  mere  appearance 
of  religion.  To  you  the  class  meetiog  cannot  have  been 
productive  of  much  profit,  and  never  will  be  till  yon  make  its 
observance  a  regular  service.  And  why  should  it  not  be  so 
made?  That  which  was  right  last  week  is  right  this  week^ 
and  the  same  reason  for  attending  last  week  continues  this 
week.  It  is  a  weeMy  duty,  and  hence  the  discharge  of  duty 
one  week  cannot  release  you  from  duty  the  next  week.  The 
last  week  had,  and  the  next  week  will  have^  the  same  claims 
as  this,  in  this  matter.  Do  you  not  need  grace  to  help  you 
this  week,  as  you  did  last  week  ?  Is  danger  less,  privilege 
less,  responsibility  less,  this  week,  than  they  were  last  week  ? 
No,  but  increased;  and  therefore  the  necessity  to  attend  class 
this  week  is  more  urgent  than  it  was  last  week,  and  so  must 
continue  to  be  to  the  end  of  life.  You  might  just  as  well 
say,  I  prayed  yesterday  morning,  and  therefore  shall  not 
pray  this  morning;  or  heard  the  word  preached  last  Sunday, 
and  therefore  shall  stay  at  home  to-day ;  or  received  the  sa- 
crament at  the  last  communion,  and  therefore  shall  not  re- 
ceive it  at  the  next  time ;  or  read  my  Bible  yesterday,  and 
therefore  shall  not  read  it  to-day;  and  so  of  every  other 
means  of  grace.  At  this  rate,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
preservation  of  order  in  the  church  would  be  impossible,  and 
that  the  Christian  profession  would  be  a  matter  of  but  small 
importance.  Religious  responsibility  would  be  greatly  les- 
sened, and  the  amount  of  backsliding  in  heart  and  life  be 
incalculably  great.  Xever  give  this  excuse  another  moment's 
enter  taiament. 

10.  It  is  too  cold  or  too  warm,  or  it  is  cloudy  or  rainy, 
and  the  streets  or  the  roads  are  wet  and  muddy. Bo  these 


EXCUSES  EXAMINED. 


219 


difficulties  stop  you  in  matters  of  worldly  pleasure  or  busi- 
ness ?  Not  at  all.  And  are  not  the  the  pleasures  of  reli- 
gion, and  the  great  business  of  the  soul,  confined  to  this 
fleeting  life,  of  inconceivably  greater  magnitude  ?  Would 
these  trivial  difficulties  arrest  you  if  life,  property,  or  repu- 
tation were  in  jeopardy  ?  Not  at  all.  Why  then  should 
they  be  considered  sufficient  causes  to  justify  the  neglect  of 
the  incomparably  greater  interests  of  eternity,  which  are  in 
imminent  hazard  every  moment  ?    But  I  put  the  question, 

^  Do  you  meet  with  your  class  when  the  weather  and  the  cir- 
cumstances are  most  favorable  ?  Probably  but  seldom ;  it 
may  be,  never.  What  then  ?  With  no  excuse  for  neglect 
in  this  case,  you  are  ready  to  soothe  the  conscience  with  the 
most  flimsy  pretences  in  the  other  case.  Any  thing  will 
answer  for  the  purpose.  I  put  the  question  again,  Are  you 
willing  to  vindicate  yourself  before  God  upon  these  grounds  ? 
Do  they  even  really  palliate  the  offence  of  neglect  before 
your  own  conscience  ? 

11.  I  am  slightly  indisposed. Too  much  so  to  attend 
to  worldly  business  or  pleasure,  or  the  ordinary  duties  of 
life  ?  Then  the  excuse  is  valid ;  otherwise,  it  is  insufficient. 
But  I  put  the  question.  Do  you  meet  with  your  class  when 
you  are  in  good  health  ?  Probably  not  often ;  it  may  be 
never.  It  is  evident  you  have  not  formed  the  habit  of 
regular  attention  to  this  means  of  grace.  A  profound 
regard  for  this  means  of  grace  cannot  be  afi'ected  by  a  slight 
indisposition.  Age  and  infirmity  are  often  found  in  the 
class-room  celebrating  the  goodness  of  God,  and  rejoicing 
in  the  solace  of  his  grace.  Christian  fellowship  soothes 
and  refreshes  the  body  under  the  languor  of  disease,  and  it 
would,  doubtless,  contribute  much  to  the  removal  of  the 
indisposition  of  which  you  complain.  Even  a  walk  or  a 
ride  in  the  open  air  to  the  class-room  might  do  something 
to  relieve  you.    But  it  may  be  that  your  indisposition  is  of 

^  a  constitutional  or  a  chronic  character,  and  so  slight,  gene- 


220 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


rally,  that  you  do  not  notice  it  particularly  till  the  class- 
meeting  day  comes,  and  then  it  is  suddenly  aggravated  into 
a  serious  complaint,  which  passes  away,  however,  with  the 
hour  in  which  you  should  have  met  with  your  class.  But 
how  long  have  you  been  afflicted  with  this  sickness  ?  How 
often  does  it  occur?  How  long  does  it  ordinarily  last? 
Does  it  leave  you  no  time  for  class  meeting  ?  Are  you  on 
the  sick  list?  Does  your  sickness  cause  you  to  lose  a 
moment  of  time,  or  cost  you  a  cent  for  medicine  or  for 
medical  treatment?  Do  you  report  your  indisposition  to 
the  class-leader  as  the  cause  of  your  absence?  Does  it 
detain  you  from  church  on  Sunday,  or  from  the  company 
of  your  friends,  or  prevent  your  meeting  your  ordinary 
engagements  with  your  fellow-men  ?  Oh,  no  !  Why,  then, 
magnify  it  into  a  matter  of  so  much  consequence,  when  a 
plain  and  solemn  duty  demands  but  an  hour's  attention  and 
not  the  least  exposure?  Get  well  from  this  hour,  and 
never  get  sick  again,  unless  you  cannot  help  it. 

12.  I  can  tell  but  the  same  old  story,  and  hear  but  the 
same  old  advice  from  the  leader,  and  the  same  old  state- 
ments from  the  members.''  Very  well;  better  this  than 
nothing ;  better  this  than  stay  at  home.  If  you  obtain  no 
instruction,  the  spirit  of  the  class  meeting  is  most  salutary, 
and  religious  habits  are  of  great  value.  You  hear  many 
sermons  which  afford  you  no  instruction,  and  you  often 
partake  of  the  Lord's  supper  without  any  sensible  spiritual 
profit,  and  engage  in  singing  old  familiar  hymns  and  tunes 
in  praise  of  God  without  any  particular  delight;  and  yet, 
for  all  this,  you  do  not  neglect  or  abandon  them.  But  if, 
in  all  these  instances,  you  exercised  the  proper  spirit,  you 
would  never  fail  to  receive  some  spiritual  profit.  So, 
whenever  you  meet  with  your  class,  if  you  go  with  the 
proper  spirit,  you  will  never  fail  to  obtain  some  spiritual 
blessing.  Beside,  the  reason  why  you  hear  many  sermons 
without  instruction,  and  often  partake  of  the  Lord's  supper 


EXCUSES  EXAMINED. 


221 


without  spiritual  profit^  and  sing  old  familiar  hymns  without 
delight,  and  often  pray  without  receiving  any  sensible 
answer,  and  read  the  Bible  without  edification,  is  because 
your  ordinary  spirit  and  practice  are  worldly,  and  you  are  in 
the  daily  neglect  of  private  religious  duties ;  so  that  when 
you  engage  in  religious  services  in  the  church  or  elsewhere, 
you  are  not  in  a  frame  of  mind  to  enjoy  them.  So  in 
class  meetings :  you  go  thither  unprepared  to  enjoy  them, 
and  no  wonder  you  find  them  ordinarily  uninteresting. 
Improve  in  religion  at  home,  and  in  your  intercourse  with 
the  world,  and  every  time  you  go  to  class  you  will  have 
something  new  to  say,  though  you  hear  nothing  new  from 
others ;  you  will  find  the  class  meeting  invested  with  a  new 
and  growing  interest ;  and  no  religious  service  will  be  so 
improving  and  delightful  to  you,  however  insipid  and 
tedious  it  may  be  now.  You  will  then  discover  that  the 
old  sayings,  and  hymns,  and  prayers,  and  counsels,  of  which 
you  now  complain,  will  appear  in  a  new  light;  and  that 
those  who  you  think  have  been  standing  still  for  years  have 
been  advancing  all  the  time,  and  are  far  ahead  of  you  in 
spiritual  knowledge  and  experience.  Indeed,  you  will  be 
pleased  to  adopt  some  of  these  same  objectionable  phrases 
to  describe  your  own  religious  state  3  and  you  will  find  a 
real  and  profound  delight,  such  as  you  never  felt  before,  in 
uttering,  I  feel  more  resolved  than  ever,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  to  make  my  calling  and  election  sure  and  you  will 
sing,  with  invigorating  faith  and  undying  pleasure  : — 

Help  me  to  watch  and  pray, 

And  on  thyself  rely ; 
Assured,  if  I  my  trust  betray, 

I  shall  forever  die." 

All  this  is  just  as  you  would  have  the  class  meeting  to  be, 
and  all  this  shall  be  so,  if  you  walk  with  Jesus  daily :  for 


222 


OBJECTIONS  AND  EXCUSES. 


then  you  shall  meet  Jesus  with  his  people  in  the  class- 
room, whose  presence  is  the  primary  requisite  to  happiness 
there. 

We  might  fill  a  volume  with  excuses  on  this  subject,  but 
these  will  suffice,  and  we  hasten  to  another  part  of  this 
work. 


PART  V. 
CHAPTER  I. 

DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS. 

1.  From  the  itinerant  relation  which  the  Methodist 
preacher  sustains  to  the  church,  it  is  his  duty,  as  far  as 
practicable,  to  visit  the  classes  composing  his  pastoral 
charge.  He  should  take  time  for  this,  for  this  is  of  chief 
importance,  and  less  material  matters  should  never  be  per- 
mitted to  interfere  with  the  discharge  of  this  duty.  He 
should  not  be  satisfied  with  the  accounts  given  weekly  by 
the  leaders,  though  this,  in  many  places,  is  greatly  ne- 
glected or  but  little  regarded.  Beside,  many  of  the 
leaders  frequently  are  themselves  unfaithful,  and  ignorant 
of  the  spiritual  state  of  their  classes,  and  so  can  give  no 
information.  Classes  sometimes  die  on  the  hands  of  impro- 
per and  unfaithful  leaders,  which  might  have  been  pre- 
vented by  a  prudent  and  timely  change  of  leaders.  But 
how  can  the  evil  be  prevented,  unless  the  preacher  visit  the 
classes  and  inform  himself?  Moreover,  the  preacher,  by 
visiting  the  classes,  and  conversing  with  each  member,  can 
obtain  a  better  knowledge  of  the  spiritual  condition  of  the 
class  than  he  can  from  any  account  given  by  the  leader.  It 
is,  in  a  word,  only  when  the  preacher's  time  is  demanded 

223 


224 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS;  LEADERS,  ETC. 


for  the  discharge  of  other  duties  that  he  is  properly  released 
from  obligation  to  visit  and  examine  the  classes. 

Mr.  Wesley,  the  founder  of  the  system,  is,  in  this 
respect,  an  example  for  his  successors  in  pastoral  authority. 
Says  he,  I  rode  to  Bristol  where,  the  following  week,  I 
spoke  to  each  member  of  the  society,  and  rejoiced  over 
them,  finding  they  had  not  been  '  barren  or  unfruitful  in  the 
knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.^  Again:  ^^On 
the  following  days  I  spoke  with  each  member  of  the  society 
in  Kingswood.  I  cannot  understand  how  any  minister  can 
hope  ever  to  give  up  his  account  with  joy,  unless  (as  Igna- 
tius advises)  he  ^ knows  all  his  flock  by  name;  not  over- 
looking the  men-servants  and  maid-servants.'  '^f    Again  : 

My  brother  and  I  began  visiting  the  society  together, 
which  employed  us  from  six  in  the  morning  every  day  till 
near  six  in  the  evening. J 

The  neglect  of  this  pastoral  duty,  and  that  of  pastoral 
visitation,  will  certainly  result  not  only  in  the  loss  of  the 
spirituality,  but  decrease  in  the  number,  of  those  who 
habitually  attend  class.  The  services  of  the  Sabbath  day, 
however  invigorating,  are  not  enough  to  perpetuate,  much 
less  promote,  the  life  of  the  church.  Religion  is  social, 
and  religion  must  be  nourished  in  the  class-room  and  the 
homes  of  men;  and  there  the  pastor  must  diffuse  the  charm 
and  dispense  the  admonitions  of  the  gospel  he  loves  and 
preaches.      In  the  evening/'  says  Mr.  Wesley,    I  reached 

Colchester.    I  found  the  society  had  decreased  since  L  

C  went  away;  and  yet  they  had  full  as  good  preachers. 

But  that  is  not  sufficient :  by  repeated  experiments  we 
learn  that  though  a  man  preach  like  an  angel,  he  will 
neither  collect,  nor  preserve  a  society  which  is  collected, 
without  visiting  them  from  house  to  house.'' §  Indeed, 


Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  278.  f  ^^^^  P-  279. 

§  Journal,  yol.  iv.  p.  14.— Ibid.  p.  380. 


*t  Ibid.  p.  279. 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS. 


225 


faithful  pastoral  visiting  is  of  more  importance  than 
the  most  powerful  preaching.  The  faithful  pastor,  though 
of  ordinary  abilities,  is  more  efficient  than  the  most  popular 
and  powerful  preacher  who  confines  his  labors  principally  to 
the  pulpit.  Ordinarily,  in  the  former  case,  more  members 
will  be  added  to  the  church,  the  church  itself  will  be  more 
spiritual  in  heart  and  life,  and  Christians  will  die  happier 
than  in  the  latter  case.  The  influence  of  pastoral  visitation 
upon  the  homes  and  classes  will  be  reciprocal  between  the 
pastor  and  his  flock.  Religious  sympathies  will  become 
intense,  and  mutual  confidence  be  established.  The  pastor 
thus  obtains  a  knowledge  of  the  spiritual  character  and 
wants  of  his  flock,  which  it  is  impossible  for  him  otherwise 
to  obtain.  And  without  this  knowledge,  how  little  does  his 
preaching  avail !  He  may  advance  the  general  interests  of 
Christianity,  but  little  special  spiritual  good  is  efi'ected. 
Happy  pastor,  who  preaches  with  this  knowledge  !  Happy 
flock,  who  have  such  a  pastor !  He  visits  the  classes,  and 
examines  the  members  one  by  one ;  and  this  is  his  duty, 
and  this  he  should  do  whenever  it  is  practicable ;  and  this 
he  may  do  more  conveniently  and  regularly  on  the  stations 
than  the  circuits;  and  yet  on  neither  station  nor  circuit 
should  mere  inconvenience  prevent  the  discharge  of  this 
duty.  It  is  laborious  work,  but  it  must  be  done.  '^I 
began  visiting  the  classes,^^  says  Mr.  Wesley,  "  in  London, 
and  that  with  more  exactness  than  ever  before.  After 
going  through  them,  I  found  the  society  contained  about 
three-and-twenty  hundred  and  fifty  members,  few  of  whom 
we  could  discern  to  be  triflers,  and  none,  we  hope,  live  in 
wilful  sin.^^*    And  this  requires  time,  but  it  must  be  taken : 

I  spoke,''  says  Mr.  Wesley  again,     one  by  one  to  the  ^ 
society  at  Hutton  Rugby.    They  were  about  eighty  in 
number :  of  whom  near  seventy  were  believers,  and  sixteen 


^-  Journal,  vol.  iv.  p.  52, 


226 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


(probably)  renewed  in  love/^*  And  it  requires  labor  too : 
I  began/'  says  Mr.  Wesley,  visiting  the  society  (Kings- 
wood)  from  house  to  house,  taking  them  from  west  to  east. 
This  will  undoubtedly  be  a  heavy  cross,  no  way  pleasing  to 
flesh  and  blood.  But  I  already  saw  how  unspeakably  use- 
ful it  will  be  to  many  souls.'^f  Again :  I  began  at  the 
east  end  of  the  town  (London)  to  visit  the  society  from 
house  to  house.-  I  know  no  branch  of  the  pastoral  office 
which  is  of  greater  importance  than  this.  But  it  is  so 
grievous  to  flesh  and  blood,  that  I  can  prevail  on  few,  even 
of  our  preachers,  to  undertake  it.'' J  Mr.  Wesley  is  a 
capital  example  of  faithfulness  in  discharging  this  duty. 
In  a  multitude  of  instances  in  his  Journal,  he  speaks  of  his 
visiting  the  "classes"  and  the  "societies."  In  his  eightieth 
year  he  says,  "  On  Monday^  Tuesday y  and  Wednesday ^  I 
visited  the  classes;  and  on  Tliiirsday^  and  the  following 
days,  I  visited  the  rest  of  the  country  societies." § 

It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  Methodist  ministers  to  see  that 
the  class  meeting  be  observed  by  the  people  under  their 
charge,  as  it  is  the  duty  of  the  people  to  observe  them.  Dul- 
ness,  indolence,  bashfulness,  backwardness,  a  man-pleasing 
spirit,  and  the  like,  are  no  excuses  for  the  neglect  of  our 
duty.  No  difficulties  or  hinderances  that  can  be  surmounted 
are  excuses  for  neglect,  and  difficulties  there  will  be  so  long 
as  man  has  a  corrupt  heart.  We  do  not  say,  that  it  is  as 
much  the  duty  of  the  minister  to  visit  the  the  classes  as  it  is 
to  preach  the  gospel  and  administer  the  sacraments;  but 
all  duties  should  be  so  arranged  that  each  may  be  discharged; 
they  should  not  be  permitted  to  clash,  and  none  are  to  be 
neglected  that  can  be  performed. 

2.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  preacher  to  see  that  the  leaders  visit 
absentees  faithfully  and  regularly.    This  is  the  solemn  duty 


*  Journal,  vol.  iv.  p.  103. 

X  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  407. 


t  Ibid.  p.  384. 
I  Ibid.  p.  567. 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS. 


227 


©f  the  leaders.  By  neglecting  this,  a  full  class  will  speedily 
dwindle  down  and  decline.  Thus :  a  member  may  have 
been  detained  from  class  by  necessity  or  by  spiritual  sloth. 
Next  week  his  disposition  to  attend  is  sensibly  lessened,  and 
so  on  from  week  to  week ;  and  if  he  be  not  stirred  up  and 
encouraged  by  the  affectionate  admonitions  of  his  leader, 
his  negligence  will  increase,  till,  not  being  required  to  give 
an  account  of  his  religious  state  to  his  bj:ethren,  he  will 
soon  cease  to  examine  himself,  and  his  negligence  will 
become  confirmed,  and  eventually  he  loses  all  relish  for,  and 
abandons  altogether,  the  communion  of  saints.  If  leaders 
will  not  visit  absentees,  they  neglect  a  most  important  part 
of  their  work,  and  so  prove  themselves  unworthy  of  the 
office  they  hold.  Rather  than  souls  should  suffer  from  ne- 
glect, let  the  pastor  remove  such  leaders,  and  substitute  others 
of  a  better  stamp.    The  pastor's  work  requires  it. 

3.  Let  the  good  old  practice*  of  examining  the  class- 
books  weekly,  or  whenever  practicable,  be  universally  revived 
and  established,  that  the  attendance  of  the  members  may  be 
ascertained,  the  sick  may  be  visited,  the  wavering  be  estab- 
lished, and  the  wandering  reclaimed.  For  this  take  time ; 
and  then  let  the  visitation  be  prompt  and  faithful.  Thou- 
sands will  be  reclaimed ;  the  melancholy  work  of  backslid- 
ing will  be  arrested ;  and  the  churches  increase  and  flourish 
as  if  in  a  perpetual  revival.  Every  soul  saved  should,  if 
possible,  be  made  a  permanent  accession  to  the  church,  and 
an  abiding  and  active  agent  in  the  work  of  God.  Who, 
then,  could  estimate  the  rapidity  of  the  progress,  and  the 
general  efficiency  of  the  church  ?  In  a  few  years  the  num- 
ber and  power  of  the  church  would  be  increased  beyond  all 
calculation.    The  very  prospect  is  inspiring  and  makes  the 

*  "  Sunday,  20. — I  spoke"  says  Mr.  Wesley,  "  to  every  leader  concern- 
ing every  one  under  his  care ;  and  put  out  every  person  whom  they  could 
not  recommend  to  me." — Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  427.  This  is  genuine 
Wesleyan  Methodist  discipline. 


228  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


heart  leap  for  joy.  Let  the  preachers  be  encouraged  to  go 
back  for  several  years  in  some  cases,  and  in  company  with 
their  former  leader  visit  them,  and  affectionately  urge  them 
to  return. 

4.  Let  there  be  occasionally  a  prudent  interchange  of 
leaders.  This  would  enliven  the  classes,  by  a  distribution 
of  talents,  and  a  varied  fund  of  Christian  experience.  This 
will  reheve  and  enliven  the  leaders,  just  as  the  itinerancy 
relieves  and  enlivens  the  preachers.  This  will  bind  the 
whole  church  together  more  closely  in  the  bonds  of  Chris- 
tian fellowship  and  unity.  This  will  keep  all  the  leaders  at 
their  post,  and  make  them  more  diligent  and  desirous  to  be 
active  and  useful.  Let  the  leaders  that  have  visibly  de- 
clined in  zeal  and  godliness,  and  have  fallen  into  a  dull  and 
monotonous  way  of  leading  their  classes,  and  are  not  likely 
to  revive;  or  by  negligence  have  lost  most  of  their  numbers, 
and  are  not  likely  to  recover  them ;  be  persuaded  to  resign 
their  charge,  or  an  assistant  be  appointed  who  will  make  up 
the  lack  of  service. 

5.  Let  the  preachers  more  frequently  and  faithfully  preach 
on  the  obligation  of  Christian  communion,  which  is  seldom 
insisted  on  from  the  pulpit,  though  the  discipline  of  the  visi- 
ble church  is  one  of  the  chief  means  of  building  up  the 
spiritual  church.  Let  the  preacher  point  from  the  pulpit 
to  the  class-room  with  a  solemn  significance,  and  aid  in  ral- 
lying the  classes  around  their  leaders.  Let  him  marshal  his 
forces  like  a  skilful  general,  and  rouse  and  lead  them  for- 
ward as  by  a  trumpet's  call  to  battle,  one  blessed  spirit  in- 
spiring every  bosom,  and  order  and  courage  prevailing  in 
every  rank.  The  onset  of  such  a  church  will  be  omni- 
potent. ^^The  preaching  of  Christ  crucified  is  God's  great 
ordinance and  the  voice  of  the  preacher  can  be  turned 
with  greater  effect  nowhere  than  in  urging  the  whole  church 
in  harmony  and  fellowship  onward  to  the  end  and  issues  of 
Christian  duty  and  service.   The  conquest  of  the  world  is  the 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS. 


229 


certain  and  sublime  acbievement,  and  the  richest  celestial 
laurels  shall  be  worn  by  the  leaders  and  victors  in  the  battle. 

6.  To  administer  discipline.  As  the  ministers  of  Christ 
we  should  set  ourselves  to  the  execution  of  discipline  in 
this  most  necessary  part  of  our  work.  It  is  sad,  indeed,  that 
we  should  have  settled  down  so  long  in  the  neglect  of  so  im- 
portant a  duty.  We  hear  from  every  quarter,  Our  people 
are  not  ready  for  it ;  they  will  not  bear  it.^'  Not  that,  but 
we  dread  the  trouble  and  hatred  it  will  involve.  If  our 
constitution  is  sound,  the  government  must  be  supported; 
if  what  we  demand  is  right,  it  is  practicable;  and  if  it  is  not 
practicable,  why,  the  constitution  should  be  altered.  If  at- 
tendance upon  class  be  a  proper  test  of  membership,  it  should 
be  enforced;  if  it  be  not,  it  should  be  annulled.  If  it  be 
right  to  require  it,  why  is  it  not  enforced?  if  it  be  not, 
why  do  we  require  it  ?  or  trouble  the  church  about  its  ne- 
glect ?  or  complain  so  much  of  its  neglect  ? 

The  use  of  discipline  is  remotely  for  the  offender,  and  im- 
mediately for  the  church;  but  principally  for  the  church, 
that  others  may  be  deterred  from  similar  offences,  and  so 
the  doctrine,  order,  and  character  of  the  church  be  mani- 
fested and  kept  pure.  We  all  believe  this,  and  nothing  else 
is  talked  about  and  written  about  as  more  necessary  than 
church-discipline,  and  nothing  considered  as  more  generally 
and  lamentably  neglected  than  it  is.  It  has  been  so  in  all 
ages  of  the  church.  ^^It  hath  made  me  wonder  sometimes,'' 
said  Baxter,  in  1655,  to  look  on  the  face  of  England,  and 
see  how  few  congregations  in  the  land  have  any  considerable 
execution  of  discipline,  and  to  think  withal  what  volumes 
have  been  written  for  it;  and  how  almost  all  the  ministry  of 
the  nation  are  engaged  for  it.  How  zealously  they  have  con- 
tended for  it,  and  made  many  a  just  exclamation  against 
the  opposers  of  it ;  and  yet,  notwithstanding  all  this,  they 
will  do  little  or  nothing  in  the  exercise  of  it.  How  many 
-ministers  are  there  in  England  that  know  not  their  own 

20 


230  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


charge,  and  cannot  tell  who  are  the  members  of  it :  that 
never  cast  out  one  obstinate  sinner,  nor  brought  one  to  pub- 
lic confession  and  promise  of  reformation,  nor  even  admo- 
nished one  publicly  to  call  him  to  repentance  !'^* 

Discipline  should  be  executed,  for  there  is  no  church- 
government  without  it.f  It  is  good  in  itself,  but  what 
avails  it  if  it  effect  no  good  ?  It  matters  not  what  the  laws 
are,  if  they  are  not  executed.  The  proper  execution  of 
wise  laws  is  the  best  argument  in  their  defence. 

Discipline  should  be  executed,  since  the  neglect  of  it 
tends  to  induce  offenders  to  believe  that  they  are  Christians 
when  they  are  not,  and  to  consider  sin  a  tolerable  thing, 
because  it  is  tolerated  by  the  church. 

Discipline  should  be  executed,  that  the  difference  between 
the  church  and  the  world  may  be  manifest ;  otherwise  the 
church  will  be  corrupted  and  shorn  of  its  majesty  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world. 

Discipline  should  be  executed,  because  it  is  an  ordinance 
of  Christ;  and  it  is  as  much  the  duty  of  ministers  to 
execute  it,  as  it  is  to  preach,  administer  the  sacraments,  or 
perform  any  other  function  of  their  holy  office. 

Discipline  should  be  executed,  lest  the  church  itself  be 
ultimately  destroyed  by  the  neglect  of  it. 


*  Reformed  Pastor,  pp.  237,  238. 

f  "  A  church  without  discipline  is  like  an  army  without  a  commander, 
which  is  a  rabble  during  peace,  and  a  prey  to  the  enemy  in  time  of  war. 
It  is  like  a  family  without  a  head,  in  which  duty  is  left  both  undefined 
and  unperformed;  in  which  passion  prevails,  favoritism  rules,  envy 
rages,  and  the  good  of  the  whole  is  sacrificed  to  the  caprice  of  one.  It 
is  like  a  garden  without  walls,  which  '  all  who  pass  by  do  pluck  which 
the  '  wild  boar  of  the  forest  doth  waste and  which  the  ^  wild  beast  of 
the  field  doth  devour.'  In  such  a  church  there  may  be  occasional 
flashes  of  power  felt  in  the  ordinances,  granted  by  God  in  honor  of 
individual  devotedness ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  there  will  always  be  a 
lamentable  lack  of  harmony  and  holiness  among  the  body  of  its  minis- 
ters and  members.'* — Wesley's  Magazine,  1835,  p.  594. 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHEES. 


231 


On  these  points  we  take  our  stand;  and  inquire^  if  these 
be  the  great  reasons  for  the  faithful  execution  of  discipline, 
why,  in  all  ages,  has  it  been  so  much  neglected  by  the 
church  ?  Surely  this  is  a  most  important  inquiry,  and  we 
must  call  to  our  aid  all  the  light  we  have  on  the  subject. 
It  is  obvious  there  can  be  no  valid  reason  against  that 
which  is  supported  by  so  many  and  such  strong  reasons, 
it  is  obvious,  also,  that  the  execution  of  discipline,  sup- 
ported and  required  as  it  is,  is  nevertheless  a  most  difficult 
part  of  the  minister's  work,  and  it  will  be  found  that  the 
difficulty  lies  in  hinderances,  and  not  in  insurmountable 
obstacles.  The  hinderances  usually  mentioned,  and  which 
really  exist,  are  the  following  : — 

The  vast  trouble  and  labor  a  faithful  execution  of  disci- 
pline would  involve ;  the  hate  and  malice  it  would  excite 
in  excommunicated  members;  the  grief  it  would  produce 
in  their  friends ;  the  injury  it  might  cause  to  weak  mem- 
bers, inducing  some  to  leave  the  church;  the  dissensions 
and  contentions  it  might  create  in  the  church  and  in  the 
neighborhood;  the  probability  of  doing  no  good  to  offenders 
after  expulsion ;  the  difficulty  of  bringing  the  guilty  to 
trial,  and  of  conducting  the  trial  impartially  and  properly ; 
the  probability  that,  in  most  cases,  it  would  do  more  harm 
to  the  church  and  the  guilty  than  good;  and  the  evils  to.be 
corrected  are  now  so  many,  and  have  been  of  such  long 
standing,  that  if  they  are  not  wholly  insurmountable,  the 
correction  of  them  would  involve  the  almost  entire  disor- 
ganization and  dissolution  of  the  church — that  scarcely  less 
than  a  revolution  is  required  to  restore  the  church  to  evan- 
gelical purity  and  simplicity.  This  is  truly  a  startling 
array.  It  is  enough  to  shake  the  soul  of  the  boldest  and 
wisest  man.  It  is  a  work  nothing  short  of  omnipotence 
itself.  But  with  omnipotence  we  must  not  quail.  The 
hinderances  may  he  overcome. 

1.  All  these  hinderances  have  been  from  the  first,  and 


232  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADES,  ETC. 


still  are,  in  some  places,  as  valid  against  tlie  faithful  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel.  Do  we  assume,  with  the  infidel,  that 
the  great  objects  of  Christianity  are  to  be  frustrated  by  the 
difficulties  to  be  overcome  ?  that  the  world  in  rebellion  is 
an  overmatch  for  the  Son  of  God  ?  that  the  sedition  and 
league  of  men  and  devils  cannot  be  suppressed  by  the 
Spirit  of  Grod?  Christ  never  acknowledged  it;  his  apos- 
tles never  believed  it.  He  came  not  to  send  peace  on  earth, 
and  reminded  his  apostles  that  the  world  would  hate  them ; 
and  they  faithfully  dischai-ged  their  duty  at  the  cost  of  their 
lives  J  every  one  of  them,  save  John,  and  he  at  the  cost  of 
exile ;  and  with  what  success  they  discharged  their  duty, 
nearly  twenty  centuries  can  attest.  And  what  are  the  diffi- 
culties before  us,  compared  with  those  they  surmounted? 
and  what  is  the  cost  required  of  us,  compared  with  what 
was  exacted  of  them  ?  Did  Luther  quail  before  the  por- 
tentous array  of  papal  corruptions,  superstitions,  and  oppo- 
sition ?  No ;  but  emancipated  Europe,  gave  the  nations  a 
progressive  freedom,  and  agitated  Rome  with  convulsions 
from  which  she  has  never  recovered,  and  can  never  recover. 
And  what  of  Wesley?  Eead  his  Journal.  No  worldly 
hazard,  nor  human  obstacle,  nor  possible  suffering,  was  a 
reason  against  his  work.  TTith  invincible  courage,  un- 
ruffled serenity,  and  iron  firmness,  he  grappled,  almost 
single-handed,  with  difficulties  but  little  inferior  to  those 
encountered  by  Paul  and  Luther,  and  laid  the  foundations 
of  Methodism  in  sound  doctrine,  profound  experience,  a 
simple  worship,  and  a  wholesome  discipline.  To  the  end  of 
his  long  life  he  administered  a  mild  and  fii'm  discipline. 
which  he  regarded  as  indispensable  to  the  permanence  and 
prosperity  of  the  L^nited  Societies/^  and  were  he  pre- 
siding over  us  now,  in  one  short  year  the  whole  land  would 
be  covered  with  useless  branches  thrown  out  of  the  church, 
unless  they  could  be  revived  with  original  greenness,  and 
adorned  with  original  fruitfulness.    Every  page  of  his  new 


DUTIES  OP  PREACHERS. 


233 


Journal  would  contain  his  old  familiar  phrase,  "1  com- 
menced visiting  the  classes/^  &c.  The  church,  in  its  vast 
family  of  circuits  and  stations,  would  be  thrown  into  a 
temporary  consternation.  Eevivals  would  then  flame  out 
in  every  direction.  A  shout  would  go  up  from  the  whole 
land.  Methodism,  with  strength  renewed,  in  unrivalled 
beauty,  symmetry,  majesty,  and  power,  would  go  forth,  and 
diffuse  the  balm  and  the  bloom  of  immortality  abroad  this 
wilderness  world  with  a  thousand-fold  more  rapidity  than 
she  is  now  doing.'^  And  shall  we  decline  the  noble  work, 
or  cowardly  shrink  from  the  difficulty  before  us  ?  The 
God  of  Paul  and  Luther  and  Wesley  is  with  us.'''  And, 
let  it  be  carefully  observed,  that,  as  a  branch  of  the  minis- 
try of  Christ,  we  are  responsible  for  the  faithful  spiritual 
care  and  oversight  of  that  prominent  part  in  the  world's 
redemption  in  which,  in  the  allotments  of  providence,  we 
have  been  placed,  for  the  advancement  of  the  great  work 


*  "  What  would  Methodism  have  been  without  its  vigorous  system  of 
discipline  ?  No  one  can  read  our  early  records,  without  perceiving  the 
value  Mr.  Wesley  and  the  first  preachers  set  upon  this  only  means  of 
purifying  and  invigorating  a  Christian  church.  It  is  no  proof  that 
discipline  is  now  less  required,  or  ought  now  to  be  relaxed,  that  it  is  so 
clamorously  resisted.  There  will  always  be  those  who  object  to  be  its 
subjects,  and  others  to  be  its  administrators.  Some,  in  their  anxiety 
about  numerical  strength,  are,  perhaps,  in  danger  of  undervaluing 
religious  purity.  Some  have  a  natural  timidity,  and  will  not  endure  the 
trouble.  Some  have  not  prospective  views  of  the  tendencies  of  evil, 
and  do  not,  therefore,  anticipate  the  results  of  its  full  development. 
And,  perhaps,  some  are  tempted  to  act  on  the  eventually  costly  princi- 
ple of  a  miserable  expediency,  instead  of  walking  by  rule ;  and  trust  to 
the  providence  or  grace  of  God  to  prevent,  or  overrule,  or  mitigate 
those  consequences  which  they  cannot  but  expect  will  sooner  or  later 
result.  There  are  societies  which  have  suffered  the  excisions  of  the 
pruning-knife,  and  whose  present  healthy,  thriving,  vigorous,  and 
aggressive  character,  and  hearty  engagement  in  every  department  of 
Methodism,  may  satisfy  us  that  a  temporary  inconvenience  may  be  the 
seed  of  a  lasting  blessing." — Wesleyan  Magazine,  1835.  Art.  Wes- 
'  leyan  Methodism  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Age,"  p.  619. 

20* 


234  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


transmitted  to  us  by  our  fathers — for  the  farther  progress 
of  the  sublime  work  of  ages. 

2.  Wherever  the  ministry  of  Christ  have  been  timid  and 
temporizing,  Christianity  has  obtained  but  a  partial  success ; 
and  whenever  and  wherever  a  wholesome  discipline  has 
been  neglected,  the  purest  churches  have  degenerated  into 
formality  and  corruption.  This  is  the  history  of  the  church 
in  all  ages.  Not  an  exception  can  be  found.  If  every 
other  duty  of  the  ministry  be  faithfully  performed,  and  the 
execution  of  discipline  be  neglected,  though  then  there  would 
be  the  least  occasion  for  its  execution,  evil  upon  evil,  and 
abuse  upon  abuse,  will  accumulate,  till  a  promiscuous  mass 
of  corruption  is  formed,  that  will  preponderate  over  the 
little  good  that  remains  in  the  church.  We  do  not  assume 
that  corruption  has  yet  become  manifest,  or  even  exists,  in 
our  church ;  but  we  do  assume  that,  because  the  execution 
of  discipline  has  been  neglected  so  long,  and  to  so  great  an 
extent,  and  in  very  many  particulars,  formality  is  spread- 
ing alarmingly  in  every  direction ;  and  yet  we  affirm  as  our 
decided  conviction,  that  the  power  of  godliness  in  the 
aggregate  prevails  over  the  amount  of  lifeless  formality. 
And  the  time  has  come  when  we  can  temporize  and  be 
timid  no  longer  in  preaching  and  in  the  execution  of  disci- 
pline, icithout  endangering  the  essential  purity  and  general 
safety  of  the  church.  The  institutions  of  our  church  were 
ordained  to  do  good ;  and  to  permit  them  to  be  neglected 
with  impunity  is  not  only  to  frustrate  the  good  designed, 
but  to  throw  wide  open  the  door  for  the  admission  of  every 
form  of  evil  and  corruption.  If  the  execution  of  disci- 
pline will  effect  good,  God  will  bless  it  to  do  good,  and  we 
are  under  the  profoundest  responsibility  to  execute  it. 
Discipline  is  the  last  means  to  protect  the  church,  and  it  is 
to  be  executed  when  every  antecedent  means  has  failed. 
Those  within  and  those  without  the  church  will  be  bene- 
fited by  it,  if  offenders  are  not ;  and  hence  it  is  vain  to 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS. 


235 


say  we  preclude  all  opportunity  to  do  offenders  any  good 
by  expelling  thdin  from  tlie  churcli. 

3.  The  hinderances  in  the  way  to  the  execution  of 
discipline  are  great,  it  is  true,  but  nd%  so  great  as  we 
are  apt  to  imagine.  A  prudent  and  wise  method  of  pro- 
cedure will  obviate  many,  if  not  all,  of  them.  Often 
where  we  have  apprehended  the  most  serious  consequences, 
the  least  harm  has  ensued.  Instead  of  malice  and  hate, 
the  excommunicated  have  manifested  submission  and  con- 
trition. The  friends  of  offenders,  it  is  true,  have  been 
grieved,  and  it  could  not  be  otherwise ;  but  their  grief  was 
neither  a  crime  nor  an  evil.  Weak  members  may  have 
left  the  church,  and  such  never  had  a  strong  attachment 
for  the  church ;  but  others  were  admonished  to  be  more 
diligent  and  faithful,  lest  they  also  share  the  same  fate. 
Dissensions  and  contentions  may  have  arisen,  but  they  soon 
subsided,  and  order  and  quiet  were  restored  to  the  church 
and  the  neighborhood.  Good  to  offenders  is  not  the  chief 
object  of  church  discipline,  though,  in  most  cases,  this  is 
the  surest  means  of  doing  them  good.*    The  dijficulty  of 

The  tendency  of  discipline  is  to  humble  the  offender,  to  turn  his 
mind  directly  upon  his  sin,  and  awaken  the  most  serious  reflections 
respecting  that  melancholy  day  when  the  Judge  shall  pronounce  against 
him  the  stern  and  irrevocable  sentence  of  condemnation  and  death. 

"Nothing  in  the  order  of  means  is  equally  adapted  to  awaken  com- 
punction in  the  guilty  with  spiritual  censures  impartially  administered. 
The  sentence  of  excommunication,  in  particular,  harmonizing  with  the 
dictates  of  conscience,  and  re-echoed  by  her  voice,  is  truly  terrible :  it  is 
the  voice  of  God  speaking  through  its  legitimate  organ,  which  he  who 
despises  or  neglects,  ranks  with  'heathen  men,^  joins  the  synagogue  of 
Satan,  and  takes  his  lot  with  an  unbelieving  world,  doomed  to  perdition. 
Excommunication  is  a  sword  which,  strong  in  its  apparent  weakness, 
and  the  sharper  and  more  keenly-edged  for  being  divested  of  all  sen- 
sible and  exterior  envelopments,  lights  immediately  on  the  spirit,  and 
inflicts  a  wound  which  no  balm  can  cure,  no  ointment  can  mollify,  but 
which  must  continue  to  ulcerate  and  burn,  till  healed  by  the  blood  of  the 
^  atonement,  applied  by  penitence  and  prayer." — Treatise  on  Terms  of 
Communion,  by  Robert  Hall,  p.  138. 


2S6  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


bringing  the  guilty  to  trial,  and  of  conducting  the  trial 
impartially  and  properly,  is  admitted ;  but  it  is  not  insur- 
mountable, as  experience  has  attested,  and  will  attest: 
promptness,  firmness,  energy,  and  prudence  are  all  that  are 
required,  and  the  pastor  that  has  not  these  is  not  qualified 
to  have  the  government  of  the  church ;  and  then  the  argu- 
ment will  turn  upon  the  incapability  of  the  pastor  to  govern, 
and  not  upon  the  evil  of  church  discipline.  But  as  ability 
to  govern  the  church  is  as  necessary  a  qualification  as  ability 
to  preach,  he  that  is  unable  to  rule  the  church  should  not 
be  intrusted  with  the  work  of  governing,  any  more  than 
with  authority  to  preach — indeed,  not  as  much ;  for  he  may 
be  intrusted  with  authority  to  preach,  and  so  accomplish 
some  good,  and  the  authority  to  govern  be  given  to  another. 
And  so  a  negligent  pastor,  though  able  to  govern,  should 
not  be  intrusted  with  an  authority  which  he  will  not  exer- 
cise. And  as  to  the  probability  that,  in  most  cases,  the 
execution  of  discipline  would  do  more  harm  to  the  church 
and  the  guilty  than  good,  the  probability  is  all  the  other 
way ;  in  most  cases  it  will  be  beneficial  to  the  guilty,  if  any 
thing  can  be,  since  this  is  the  last  means  to  benefit  him  that 
can  be  applied;  and  as  lopping  ofif  the  withered  branches 
makes  a  tree  the  more  fruitful,  or  as  removing  those  affected 
with  a  contagious  disease  is  a  protection  to  those  in  good 
health,  so  the  execution  of  discipline  tends  to  improve  the 
efficiency  of  the  church  and  preserve  its  purity.  But  as  to 
the  difl&culty  and  the  danger  of  removing  the  many  evils  of 
long  standing  in  the  church,  that  is  the  most  serious  thing 
for  our  attention,  and  to  it  we  shall  give  a  most  careful 
consideration. 

In  the  first  place,  as  respects  class  meetings,  the  neglect 
of  them  has  become  so  general,  and  has  been  tolerated  so 
long,  that  the  institution  is  talked  of  as  obsolete j  if  not  re- 
garded by  many  as  such.  It  would  not  therefore  be  wise 
and  safe  to  proceed  to  the  execution  of  discipline  ahruptli/. 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS. 


237 


The  pastor  should  forewarn  duly  his  flock  of  his  resolution 
to  revive  and  enforce  the  discipline  on  the  subject  of  class 
meetings,  and  then  proceed,  with  the  help  of  the  leaders,  to 
the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  prescribed  as  preliminary 
to  the  arrangement  and  trial  of  those  who  ^'  continue  to  ne- 
glect/^ and  "  and  will  not  amend/'  In  a  vast  majority  of 
cases,  with  the  proper  treatment,  amendment  will  ensue. 
Secondly,  the  pastor  and  leaders  must  be  prompt,  firm,  mild, 
active,  and  impartial.  It  will  avail  but  little,  it  will  do 
more  harm  than  good,  to  threaten,  and  say  what  you  are 
going  to  do,  and  then  do  nothing,  or  to  do  what  you  do  par- 
tially. Thirdly,  the  pastor  and  leaders  must  act  in  concert. 
Fourthly,  the  pastors  themselves  should  all  act  in  concert. 
It  would  be  a  sad  thing  for  a  negligent  pastor  to  pull  down 
one  year  what  another  had  built  up.  And  we  will  venture, 
fifthly,  to  suggest  that  the  faithful  execution  of  discipline, 
especially  in  the  case  of  the  neglect  of  class  meetings,  be 
made  by  the  General  Conference  as  specifically,  strictly,  and 
indispensably  conditional  of  continuance  in  authority  to 
govern  the  church,  as  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duty  of 
preaching  is  now  conditional  of  continuance  in  authority  to 
preach.  Incapacity,  likewise,  should  be  regarded  as  good  a 
ground  of  deposition  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other. 

Let  not  those  who  lead  the  way  in  restoring  the  proper 
discipline  in  our  church  be  charged  as  innovators,  but  re- 
garded as  doing  their  duty,  and  as  correcting  what  is  indeed 
a  practical  innovation.  And  should  not  every  minister  feel 
encouraged  in  the  possession  of  such  a  means  for  the  efi^c- 
tual  management  of  his  work,  and  his  heart  bound  for  joy 
when  he  looks  forward,  and  sees  what,  with  the  blessing  of 
God,  it  will  accomplish  ? 

Who  should  be  the  first  to  lead  in  this  most  desirable  re- 
formation ?  Evidently  those  who  are  the  most  pious,  able, 
and  influential  in  the  ministry,  because  their  very  piet}^, 
ability,  and  influence  have  abated  the  sense  of  obligation  in 


238  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


private  members  to  attend  class  meetings,  and  encouraged 
them  to  neglect  that  which  is  not  considered,  after  all,  as  a 
matter  of  so  much  offence.  If  the  chief  jrulers  hold 
obedience  to  the  laws  as  a  matter  of  little  importance,  it 
will  not  be  surprising  if  the  private  citizens  consider  their 
violation  as  a  matter  of  little  disgrace.  If  superior  men 
allow  the  neglect  of  class  meetings,  inferior  men  will  be 
borne  down  by  the  impetuous  tide.  The  practice  of  superior 
men  is  apt  to  be  made  by  the  people  the  standard  of  their  duty 
to  the  ministry,  as  well  as  the  standard  of  the  minister's 
work ;  and  if  this  work  be  made  to  comprehend  no  more 
than  preaching  the  word,  administering  the  sacraments,  and 
visiting  the  sick,  the  people  will  soon  come  to  expect  no 
more  at  their  hands ;  and  then  it  will  be  next  to  impossible 
for  inferior  men  to  execute  discipline,  which  is  as  essential 
a  part  of  the  minister's  work  as  the  above  duties. 

Administration  of  discipline  requires  great  wisdom  and 
firmness.  We  have  already  considered  attendance  upon 
class  meeting  as  a  condition  of  membership.  Yet  the  ad- 
ministration of  discipline,  in  cases  of  wilful  and  repeated  ne- 
glect, is  often  a  matter  of  very  great  delicacy.  I  met,'' 
says  Mr.  "Wesley,  the  society  (in  Norwich)  at  five,  and 
explained  the  nature  and  use  of  meeting  in  a  class.  Upon 
inquiry,  I  found,  we  have  now  about  five  hundred  members. 
But  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  these  do  not  pretend  to  meet  at 
all.  Of  those,  therefore,  I  made  no  account.  They  hang 
on  but  a  single  thread."*  And  yet  they  were  permitted 
to  continue  in  the  society,  though  tbey  were  not  included 
in  the  account  of  the  number  of  those  in  society.  In 
matters  of  this  kind  the  preacher  must  exercise  his  best 
judgment. 

If  the  proper  discipline,  when  required,  be  neglected, 
spiritual  life  must  soon  almost  altogether  expire.    Says  Mr. 


J ournal,  vol.  iv.  p.  44. 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS. 


239 


Wesley :  "  I  reached  Launcestowiij  and  found  the  small  re- 
mains of  a  dead,  scattered  society :  and  no  wonder,  as  they 
have  had  scarce  any  discipline,  and  only  one  sermon  in  a 
fortnight.  On  Friday^  5th,  I  found  just  such  another  society 
at  Camelford.  But  their  deadness  here  was  owing  to  bitter- 
ness against  each  other.  In  the  morning  I  heard  the  con- 
tending parties  face  to  face;  and  they  resolved  and  promised, 
on  all  sides,  to  let  past  things  be  forgotten.  Oh,  how  few 
have  learned  to  forgive  one  another,  as  God,  for  Christ's 
sake,  hath  forgiven  us  !''*  In  the  one  case,  the  remedy,  dis- 
cipline, was  not  applied ;  in  the  other  case,  the  simple  remedy 
is  applied,  and  the  society  reconciled.  When,  however,  it  is 
evident  that  any  have  lost  all  spiritual  life ;  that  no  con- 
sideration is  given  to  the  means  of  grace ;  that  no  regard  is 
entertained  for  the  class  meeting ;  that  no  good  is  derived  by 
continuing  longer  in  the  class  or  in  the  church ;  that  they 
do  not  hang  on  even  by  a  single  thread,'^ — it  is  a  plain  case 
that  the  proper  steps  should  be  immediately  and  promptly 
taken  to  remove  all  such  from  association  with  the  church. 

I  retired,''  says  Mr.  Wesley,  "  to  Lewisham,  and  tran- 
scribed the  list  of  the  society.  About  a  hundred  and  sixty 
I  left  out,  to  whom  I  can  do  no  good  at  present.^f  Again: 

I  met  the  classes,  (at  York,)  and  found  many  therein  who 
were  much  alive  to  God,  but  many  others  who  were  utterly 
dead ;  which  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  society's  not  in- 
creasing."! These,  as  useless  branches,  should  be  lopped 
off  from  the  parent  tree,  unless  they  can  be  revived. 

Sometimes  Mr.  Wesley  employed  several  days  consecu- 
tively in  visiting  the  classes,  and  even  from  most  flourishing 
societies  often  excluded  large  numbers.  ^^I  began,"  says 
he,  visiting  the  classes,  (Dublin,)  which  employed  me  (from 
Friday)  to  the  Thursday  following.    We  found  it  necessary 


*  Journal,  vol.  iv.  p.  71.  f  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  91. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  104. 


240  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS^  ETC. 


to  exclude  one  hundred  and  twelve  members ;  there  re- 
mained eleven  hundred  and  thirty-six/^*  This  work  must 
have  required  much  patience  and  labor,  as  well  as  great 
prudence  and  firmness.  Doubtless  the  classes  were  all 
visited  and  examined,  and  the  leaders  also  strictly  examined 
respecting  every  individual  member  of  their  classes,  before 
Mr.  Wesley  found  just  and  sufficient  reasons  for  excluding 
so  large  a  number  from  the  society  or  church  in  Dublin. 
Preachers  in  charge  of  circuits  or  stations  should  pursue 
the  same  course  wherever  it  is  required,  in  the  present  day. 
And  they  should  continue  to  do  this,  from  year  to  year, 
with  all  prudence  and  firmness,  till  the  unholy  leaven  is  re- 
moved from  the  church.  The  year  following,  Mr.  Wesley 
again  visited  Dublin,  and  he  makes  this  entry  in  his  Jour- 
nal :  On  Monday  J  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday,  I  visited  the 
classes,  now  containing  a  little  above  a  thousand  members, 
after  I  had  excluded  about  a  hundred. ^'f  Again :  "  I  came 
to  Nottingham.  I  had  long  doubted  what  it  was  that  hin- 
dered the  work  of  Grod  here.  But  upon  inquiry,  the  case 
was  plain.  So  many  of  the  society  were  either  triflers  or 
disorderly  walkers,  that  the  blessing  of  Grod  could  not  rest 
upon  them;  so  I  made  short  work,  cutting  off  all  such  at  a 
stroke,  and  leaving  only  that  little  handful  who  (as  far  as 
could  be  judged)  were  really  in  earnest  to  save  their  souls.'^  J 
And  by  this  method  he  actually  strengthened  the  church. 

Faithful  administration  of  the  discipline,  we  have  said, 
is  required  in  order  to  protect  the  purity  and  vindicate  the 
reputation  of  the  church.  It  is  so  under  civil  and  all  other 
kinds  of  good  government.  No  man  more  than  Mr.  Wesley 
felt  the  force  of  this  requisition ;  no  man  more  wisely  and 
firmly  than  he  administered  government  upon  this  principle. 

God  humbled  us,^'  says  he,    in  the  evening  by  the  loss  of 


Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  670.  f  Ibid.  p.  725. 

X  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  306. 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS. 


241 


more  than  tliirty  of  our  little  company,  whom  I  was  obliged 
to  exclude,  as  no  longer  adorning  the  gospel  of  Christ.  I 
believed  it  best  openly  to  declare  both  their  names  and  the 
reasons  why  they  were  excluded.  We  then  all  cried  unto 
God,  that  this  might  be  for  their  edification,  and  not  for 
destruction.'^*  Again :  After  diligent  inquiry  made,  I 
removed  all  those  from  the  congregation  of  the  faithful  (in 
London)  whose  behaviour  or  spirit  was  not  agreeable  to  the 
gospel  of  Christ :  openly  declaring  the  objections  I  had  to 
each,  that  others  might  fear,  and  cry  to  God  for  them/'f 
And  so  he  often  cut  off  many  at  a  time  from  a  single  society  : 
In  the  following  week  I  diligently  inquired  who  they  were 
that  did  not  walk  according  to  the  gospel.  In  consequence 
of  which  I  was  obliged  to  put  away  above  fifty  persons. 
There  remained  above  eight  hundred  in  the  society.'^J  In 
another  case  he  mentions  the  expulsion  of  sixty-four,  and 
the  causes  for  which  they  were  expelled  :  The  number  of 
those  who  were  expelled  the  society  was  sixty-four :  two  for 
cursing  and  swearing ;  two  for  habitual  Sabbath-breaking ; 
seventeen  for  drunkenness;  two  for  retailing  spirituous 
liquors ;  three  for  quarelling  and  brawling ;  one  for  beating 
his  wife ;  three  for  habitual,  wilful  lying ;  four  for  railing 
and  evil-speaking ;  one  for  idleness  and  laziness ;  and  nine- 
and-twenty  for  lightness  and  carelessness. This  work  of 
expulsion  he  continued  :  ^^The  next  week,  we  endeavored 
to  purge  the  society  (London)  of  all  that  did  not  walk  ac- 
cording to  the  gospel.  By  this  means  we  reduced  the  num- 
ber of  members  to  less  than  nineteen  hundred.  But  number 
is  an  inconsiderable  circumstance.  May  God  increase  them 
in  faith  and  love  !'^||  Thus,  of  the  society  at  Gateshead  he 
says :  "  The  society,  which  the  first  year  consisted  of  above 
eight  hundred  members,  is  now  reduced  to  four  hundred. 


Wesley's  "Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  236. 
X  Ibid.  p.  280.  §  Ibid.  p.  258. 

21 


t  Ibid.  p.  237. 
II  Ibid.  p.  317* 


242 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS^  LEADERS,  ETC. 


But,  according  to  the  old  proverb,  the  half  is  more  than 
the  whole.  "We  shall  not  be  ashamed  of  any  of  these,  when 
we  speak  of  our  enemies  in  the  gate/^"^ 

The  great  importance  Mr.  Wesley  attached  to  discipline 
may  be  seen  from  the  following  quotations : 

^'Q.  55.  How  can  we  account  for  the  decrease  of  the 
work  of  God  in  some  circuits,  both  this  year  and  the  last  ? 

A.  It  may  be  owing  either,  (1.)  To  the  want  of  zeal  and 
exactness  in  the  assistant,  occasioning  want  of  discipline 
throughout,  &c. 

Q.  56.  What  can  be  done  in  order  to  revive  the  work  of 
God  where  it  is  decayed  ? 

A.  (2.)  Let  both  assistants  and  preachers  be  conscien- 
tiously exact  in  the  whole  Methodist  discipline. '^f 

To  Rev.  Christopher  Hopper,  one  of  his  preachers,  he 
wrote  :  London,  October  13,  1770  : — My  dear  brother  : 
You  are  quite  right.  If  a  man  preach  like  an  angel,  he 
will  do  little  good  without  exact  discipline.'^! 

To  Mr.  (afterward  Dr.)  Adam  Clarke,  he  wrote :  New 
London,  January  3,  1787: — Dear  Adam:  You  see,  none 
that  trust  in  Him  are  confounded.  When  God  is  for  us, 
who  can  be  against  us  ?  Discipline  is  the  great  want  in 
Guernsey ;  without  which  the  work  of  God  cannot  prosper. 
You  did  well  to  set  upon  it  without  delay,  and  to  be  as  exact 
as  possible.  It  is  a  true  saying,  '  The  soul  and  the  body  make 
ihe  man;  and  the  spirit  and  the  discipline  make  a  Chris- 
tian.'And  in  his  Journal  he  writes,  Friday  17, 
(1750,)  I  preached  at  Ludgvan  at  noon,  and  at  Newlyn  in 
the  evening.  Through  all  Cornwall,  I  find  the  societies  have 
suffered  great  loss  from  want  of  discipline.   Wisely  said  the 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  392. 

f  Ibid.  vol.  V.  p.  232, — Minutes  of  several  conversations  between  Mr. 
Wesley  and  others. 

+  Ibid.  vol.  vi.  p.  789.  ?  Ibid,  vol,  vii.  p,  20.3. 


DUTIES  0^  PREACHHRS. 


243 


ancients,  ^  The  soul  and  body  make  a  man ;  the  Spirit  and 
discipline  make  a  Christian/  '^"^ 

A  friend  asked  Mr.  Wesley,  near  the  close  of  his  long 
and  useful  life,  What  can  be  done  for  Methodism  when 
you  are  gone  He  replied,  They  must  take  heed  to  their 
doctrine,  their  experience,  their  practice,  and  their  disci- 
pline. If  they  attend  to  their  doctrine  only,  they  will  make 
Antinomians  of  the  people ;  if  they  attend  to  their  experi- 
ence only,  they  will  become  enthusiasts ;  if  they  attend  to 
their  practice  only,  they  will  become  Pharisees ;  and  if  they 
attend  strictly  to  their  doctrine,  their  experience,  and  their 
practice,  and  neglect  their  discipline,  they  will  act  like  a  man 
who  plants  a  vineyard,  and  leaves  it  without  a  fence,  to  be 
trodden  down  by  the  wild  animals  of  the  forest.^' 

The  question  of  exclusion  for  wilful  and  repeated  neglect 
of  class  is  of  the  gravest  nature,  and  demands  at  all  times  a 
most  careful  consideration.  It  involves  the  rights  and  inte- 
rests both  of  the  church  and  the  delinquent  members.  No 
rights  and  interests  of  man  can  be  as  great  as  those  of 
church-membership,  and  no  interests  of  the  church  can  be 
as  great  as  those  of  purity  and  integrity;  and  her  authority 
to  protect  these  must  be  vindicated.  The  rule  for  exclusion 
for  non-attendance  of  class  is,  therefore,  so  prescribed,  as  to 
guard  against  improper  and  injudicious  proceeding  with 
offenders,  and  at  the  same  time  protect  the  purity,  integrity, 
and  authority  of  the  church. 

Let  it  be  observed  that  the  ternl  employed  is  exclusion, 
and  not  expulsion,  though  the  result  in  both  cases  is  the 
same ;  namely,  a  forfeiture  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
church-membership.  The  rule  to  be  observed  in  excluding 
for  offence  is  most  proper  and  judicious;  and  when  properly 
and  judiciously  applied,  no  one  has  any  just  ground  for  com- 
plaint.   The  offence  is    wilful  and  repeated  neglect.''  The 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  497. 


244  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


steps  to  be  observed  are  the  following :  First,  it  is  tbe  duty 
of  the  leader  to  visit  offenders  of  this  nature,  to  advise, 
reprove,  comfort,  or  exhort,  as  occasion  may  require,'^  and 

inform  the  minister  of  any  that  will  not  be  reproved/'* 
When  neglect  has  been  repeated,  and  the  leader  is  satisfied 
that  it  is  wilful,  it  is  his  duty  to  inform  the  minister  of  any 
and  every  such  case.  It  is  then,  secondly,  the  duty  of  the 
pastor  to  visit  the  offender,  "whenever  it  is  practicable,'^  and 

explain  to  him  the  consequence  of  continued  neglect,  viz. 
exclusion/'  Thirdly,  if  he  do  "  not  amend,"  his  case  is  to 
be  brought  "  before  the  society,  or  a  select  number,  before 
whom  he  shall  have  been  cited  to  appear  3  and  if  found 
guilty  of  wilful  neglect,  by  the  decision  of  the  majority  of 
the  members,  he  is  to  be  laid  aside."  And,  fourthly,  the 
preacher  is  to  "  show  that  he  is  excluded  for  a  breach  of 
our  rules,  and  not  for  immoral  conduct."  After  the  leader 
has  visited  and  used  his  best  efforts  to  reclaim  the  offender, 
but  in  vain, — after  the  pastor  has  done  the  same,  but  in 
vain, — after  both  have  exercised  the  proper  forbearance,  but 
in  vain, — what  then  is  the  conclusion  to  which  the  -  pastor 
must  come  ?  Why,  that  the  offender  has  in  fact  withdrawn 
himself  from  the  pastoral  oversight  of  the  Methodist  minis- 
try, and  therefore  that  he  should  be  formally  excluded  from 
the  Methodist  Church,  and  so  his  case  is  brought  before  the 
church,  as  above,  that  this  may  be  done.  He  had  before 
in  fact  voluntarily  withdrawn  himself  from  the  church,  and 
by  the  decision  of  the  church,  as  above,  the  preacher  is  to 
state  that  he  is  excluded,  "  laid  aside,"  is  no  longer  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Church,  no  longer  under  the  pastoral 
oversight  of  the  Methodist  ministry.  It  is  immaterial  to 
say  that  he  may  nevertheless  be  a  Christian.  By  his  wilful 
and  repeated  neglect  to  meet  his  class,  he  puts  it  out  of  the 
power  of  his  leader  and  his  pastor  to  determine  whether  he 


*  Discipline,  (1854)— General  Rules — Class  Leaders'  duties,  p.  29. 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS. 


245 


is  a  Christian  or  not ;  and  so,  if  lie  be  permitted  to  remain 
longer  in  association  with  the  churchy  he  is  responsible  to 
none,  and  none  can  extend  the  proper  spiritual  care  to  him. 
When  the  leader  and  the  pastor  have  done  all  they  can  to 
induce  him  to  submit  to  their  spiritual  care,  but  in  vain,  are 
they  to  be  held  responsible  any  longer  for  his  oversight  ? 
Certainly  not.  And  what  else  can  be  done  in  his  case,  but 
to  lay  him  aside  ?  to  exclude  him  from  the  church  ?  Not 
for  immorality,'^  but  because  he  has  actually  withdrawn 
himself  from  the  spiritual  care  of  the  Methodist  Church ; 
and  surely  he  has  no  just  ground  of  complaint  against  the 
church  for  formally  doing  what  he  has  actually,  wilfully,'' 
and  "  repeatedly"  done  himself.  He  voluntarily  obligated 
himself  to  attend  class  when  he  joined  the  church  on  proba- 
tion, and  the  rule  required  that  he  should  attend  class  at  least 
six  months  before  he  should  be  received  into  full  member- 
ship ;  and  the  violation  of  this  rule,  which  would  have  been 
just  ground  to  prevent  his  reception  into  full  membership, 
is  still  just  ground  for  his  exclusion.  And  so  he  must  be 
laid  aside  for  the  very  reason  for  which  he  would  not  have 
been  received.  In  a  word,  wilful  and  repeated  neglect  of 
class  is  a  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  backslidden  state,  for 
which  the  church  has  no  other  remedy  but  exclusion. 

As  the  object  of  the  laws  of  the  church  is  to  maintain 
md  preserve  the  church  for  the  good  of  man  and  the  service 
of  God,  the  penal  sanctions  of  the  laws  must  be  answerable 
to  this  object;  and  therefore  the  violation  of  them  must  in- 
volve the  loss  of  the  privileges  and  benefits  which  the  church 
enjoys.  Expulsion,  then,  is  not  only  necessary  to  vindicate 
the  laws  of  the  church,  but  is  the  greatest  penalty  the 
church  can  inflict. 

We  will  close  this  chapter  with  two  quotations  :  The 
one  great  cause  of  the  great  flourishing  of  religion  in  the 
primitive  times,  was  certainly  the  strictness  used  by  them 
in  their  admission  of  members  into  church  societies,  which 


246  DUIES  OP  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


is  fully  described  by  Origen  against  CelsuSj  who  tells  us 
they  did  inquire  into  tbeir  lives  and  carriages,  to  discern 
their  seriousness  in  the  profession  of  Christianity  during 
their  being  catecliumens/'*  ^'  To  make  evident  this  good 
of  organized  religion,  you  need  but  contrast  the  piety  of  a 
church  so  lax  that  its  judicial  function  is  steadily  neglected, 
with  that  of  one  so  inflexible  as  that  it  is  steadily  performed. 
The  melancholy  difi'erence  will  show  the  meaning  of  the 
church,  at  least,  as  a  judicial  body.^'f 


*  Stilling.  Iren.  p.  161.       f  Miller's  Design  of  the  Church,  p.  100. 


CHAPTER  II. 


HOW  TO  PROMOTE  PROSPERITY  IN  THE  CLASSES. 

We  shall  devote  a  brief  chapter  to  a  consideration  of 
other  duties  of  the  preachers,  by  the  discharge  of  which 
prosperity  may  be  greatly  promoted  in  the  classes. 

1.  Zeal  must  be  promoted.  I  examined  the  society  at 
Limerick,  containing  now  a  hundred  and  one  persons,  seven 
less  than  they  were  two  years  ago.  T  little  wonder  at  this, 
considering  the  scandal  of  the  cross  is  well-nigh  ceased  here, 
through  the  wise  and  steady  behavior  of  our  brethren.  But 
they  want  zeal;  they  are  not  fervent  in  spirit;  therefore, 
they  cannot  increase.'^* 

2.  Offenders  should  be  removed,  or  in  a  short  time,  the 
church  will  decrease  in  number  and  in  grace.  On  Monday 
and  Tuesday  J  ^  says  Mr.  Wesley,  ^^I  revised  the  classes, 
(at  Dublin.)  The  number  of  the  members  in  the  society 
is  shrunk  from  upward  of  five  hundred  to  beneath  four 
hundred,  in  two  years ;  but  I  trust  they  will  now  increase, 
as  the  offences  are  removed,  and  brotherly  love  restored.'^-j* 

3.  Regularity  must  be  observed,  or  the  means  of  grace 
will  be  abandoned,  and  the  church  scattered.  "In  the 
evening  I  returned  to  Norwich.  Never  was  a  poor  society 
so  neglected,  as  this  has  been  for  the  past  year.  The  morn- 
ing preaching  was  at  an  end;  the  bands  suffered  all  to  fall  in 
pieces-;  and  no  care  at  all  taken  of  the  classes,  so  that 
whether  they  met  or  not,  it  was  all  one ;  going  to  church 
and  sacrament  were  forgotten ;  and  the  people  rambled 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  433. 


t  Ibid.  p.  356. 
247 


248 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS^  LEADERS,  ETC, 


hither  and  thither  as  they  listed.  On  Friday  evening  I 
met  the  society,  and  told  them,  plain,  I  was  resolved  to  have 
a  regular  society  or  none.  I  then  read  the  rules,  and  desired 
every  one  to  consider  whether  he  was  willing  to  walk  by 
these  rules  or  no.  Those  in  particular,  of  meeting  their 
class  every  week,  unless  hindered  by  distance  or  sickness, 
(the  only  reasons  for  not  meeting  which  I  could  allow,)  and 
being  constant  at  church  and  sacrament.  I  desired  those 
who  were  so  minded  to  meet  me  the  next  night,  and  the 
rest  to  stay  away.  The  nest  night  we  had  far  the  greater 
part;  on  whom  I  strongly  enforced  the  same  thing.  Sun- 
day^ 20th. — I  spoke  to  every  leader  concerning  every  one 
under  his  care ;  and  put  out  every  person  whom  they  could 
not  recommend  to  me.  After  this  was  done,  out  of  two 
hundred  and  four  members,  one  hundred  and  twenty-four 
remained.  And  these  points  shall  be  carried,  if  only  fifty 
remain  in  the  society.''"^ 

4.  The  experimental  doctrines  of  the  gospel  must  be 
preached  and  enforced.  ^^I  examined  the  society  at  Edin- 
burgh. In  five  years,  I  found,  five  members  had  been  gained ! 
Ninety-nine  being  increased  to  a  hundred  and  four.  What 
then  have  our  preachers  been  doing  all  this  time  ?  1.  They 
have  preached  four  evenings  in  the  week,  and  on  Sunday 
morning ;  the  other  mornings  they  have  fairly  given  up. 
2.  They  have  taken  great  care  not  to  speak  too  plain,  lest 
they  should  give  ofi"ence.  3.  When  Mr.  Brackenbury 
preached  the  old  Methodist  doctrine,  one  of  them  said,  You 
must  not  preach  such  doctrine  here.  The  doctrine  of  per- 
fection is  not  calculated  for  the  meridian  of  Edinburgh.^' 
Waiving  then  all  other  hinderances,  is  it  any  wonder  that 
the  work  of  God  has  not  prospered  here  V'-\  And  so  the 
witness  of  the  Spirit,  direct  and  indirect,  and  other  incon- 
ceivably important  experimental  doctrines,  as  also  many 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  427. 


t  Ibid.  p.  510. 


HOW  TO  MAKE  GLASSES  PROSPER.  249 


practical  duties^  as  simplicity  in  dress,  self-denial,  religious 
conversation,  meekness,  patience,  resignation,  humility, 
brotlierly-kindnesS;  godliness,  temperance,  zeal,  should  be 
taught  and  enforced  from  the  pulpit  and  in  the  class-room. 

5.  The  practical  doctrines  of  the  gospel  must  be  taught 
and  enforced.  I  went  on  to  Bolton.  The  society  here 
are  true,  original  Methodists.  They  are  not  conformed  to 
the  world,  either  in  its  maxims,  its  spirit,  or  its  fashions; 
but  are  simple  followers  of  the  Lamb  :  consequently  they 
increase  both  in  grace  and  number.^^* 

6.  Union  must  be  preserved.  I  preached  at  Paulton, 
where  the  people  are  still  alive,  and  the  society  is  still  as 
one  family;  consequently  it  increases  both  in  grace  and 
number.^'f 

7.  By  encouraging  activity,  importunate  prayer,  and  in- 
cessant watchfulness.  I  made  an  exact  inquiry  into  the 
state  of  the  society,  (Cork.)  I  found  the  number  was  about 
four  hundred,  many  of  whom  were  greatly  in  earnest. 
Many  children,  chiefly  girls,  were  indisputably  justified; 
some  of  them  were  likewise  sanctified,  and  were  patterns  of 
all  holiness.  But  how  shall  we  keep  up  the  flame  that  is  now 
kindled,  not  only  in  Cork,  but  in  many  parts  of  the  nation  ? 
Not  by  sitting  still ;  but  by  stirring  up  the  gift  of  God  that 
is  in  them  ;  by  uninterrupted  watchfulness ;  by  warning 
every  one,  and  exhorting  every  one;  by  besieging  the  throne 
with  all  the  powers  of  prayer ;  and,  after  all,  some  will,  and 
some  2vill  not,  improve  the  grace  which  they  have  received. 
Therefore  there  must  be  a  falling  away.  We  are  not  to  be 
discouraged  at  this ;  but  to  do  all  that  in  us  lies  to-day, 
leaving  the  morrow  to  God.' 'J 

8.  By  encouraging  patience,  forbearance,  meekness,  and 
gentleness  toward  one  another.  Finding  a  remarkable 
deadness,  (in  the  society  at  Limerick,)  I  inquired  what  were 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  540.       t  Ibid.  p.  517.       %  Ibid.  p.  6U. 


260  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


,the  reasons  of  it;  and  found:  1.  There  had  been,  for 
several  months,  a  deep  misunderstanding  between  the 
preachers  and  the  chief  of  the  society.  Hence,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  preachers  had  little  life  or  spirit  to  preach ;  and, 
on  the  other,  the  congregation  dwindled  away.  2.  Many 
left  off  meeting  their  bands,  and  many  others  seldom  met 
their  classes.  3.  Prayer-meetings  were  entirely  given  up. 
What  wonder  if  all  the  people  were  as  dead  as  stones !  After 
morning  service  I  met  the  stewards  and  leaders,  and  inquired 
into  the  rise  of  the  late  misunderstanding.  I  found  the 
matter  itself  was  nothing ;  but  want  of  patience  on  both 
sides  had  swelled  the  mole-hill  into  a  mountain.  Oh  how 
patient,  how  meek,  how  gentle  toward  all  men  ought  a 
preacher,  especially  a  Methodist,  to  be 

9.  By  encouraging  the  cultivation  of  all  the  Christian 
graces.  Not  one,  or  many,  to  the  comparative  neglect  of 
the  rest.  If  a  single  Christian  temper,  disposition,  or  grace 
be  neglected,  the  soul  will  fail  to  make  any  sfosible  progress. 
And  hence  it  is  sometimes  a  matter  of  surprise  to  the  pas- 
tor that  his  flock,  in  most  things  exemplary  and  consistent, 
enjoy  so  little  of  the  life  and  power  of  godliness,  and  in- 
crease so  slowly  in  number  and  grace.  The  explanation  is 
often  found  in  some  general  neglect  of  some  particvXar 
grace.  ^^This  week,'^  says  Mr.  Wesley,  I  visited  the 
classes  in  Bristol.  I  wonder  we  do  not  increase  in  number, 
although  many  are  convinced,  many  justified,  and  a  few 
perfected  in  love.  I  can  impute  the  want  of  increase  to 
nothing  but  the  want  of  ^elf-denial.  Without  this,  indeed, 
whatever  helps  they  have,  no  believers  can  go  forward. ^^f 

10.  By  reproving  covetousness,  and  its  invariable  con- 
comitants, formality  and  lukewarmness.  No  passion  of 
human  nature,  except  bigotry,  contracts  the  heart  more  than 
covetousness,  or  more  effectually  represses  the  generous  im- 


*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iv.  pp.  662,  663. 


t  Ibid.  p.  737. 


HOW  TO  MAKE  CLASSES  PROSPER. 


251 


pulses  of  vital  godliness.  And  for  this  we  Imve  proof  from 
Mr.  Wesley:  ^^I  preached  once  more  at  Portarlington,  and 
afterward  reproved  this  society  likewise,  for  the  miserable 
covetousness  of  some^  and  lukewarmness  of  others.  It  may 
be  they  will  be  zealous,  and  repent,  and  do  the  first  works.'^* 

These  are  all  truly  evangelical  duties  which  were  so 
faithfully  discharged  by  Mr.  Wesley,  and  not  another  word 
of  comment  is  required. 

11.  And  here  it  is  important  to  consider  what  should  be 
the  size  of  the  classes.  No  class,  if  possible,  should  he 
larger  than  the  leader  is  capable  of  overseeing. 

God  does  not  require  natural  or  moral  impossibilities. 
The  leader  must  be  able  to  give  attention  to  all  his  class. 
Hence  he  must  know  every  one  in  his  class,  not  only  per- 
sonally, but  the  infirmities,  inclination,  and  conversation  of 
each,  the  sins  to  which  each  is  most  inclined,  the  duties 
which  each  is  most  apt  to  neglect,  the  temptations  to  which 
each  is  most  liable,  and  the  trials  to  which  each  is  most 
exposed.  Baxter  says  to  the  preacher,  Doth  not  a  careful 
shepherd  look  after  every  individual  sheep;  and  a  good 
teacher  after  every  individual  scholar ;  and  a  good  physician 
after  every  particular  patient ;  aud  a  good  commander  after 
every  individual  soldier  ?  Why,  then,  should  not  the  shep- 
herds, the  teachers,  the  physicians,  the  guides  of  the 
churches  of  Christ,  take  heed  to  every  individual  member 
of  their  charge  And  should  not  the  leader  be  able  care- 
fully and  properly  to  look  after  every  member  of  his  class  ? 
The  shepherd,  in  the  parable,  missed  a  single  sheep,  and  he 
left  "the  ninety-and-nine  in  the^ wilderness,^ ^  to  seek  after 
it.  Paul  taught  "  from  house  to  house  and  he  "  warned 
every  man^  and  taught  every  man,  that  he  might  present 
every  man  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus. Such  was  the  practice 
of  the  primitive  Christians.    Says  Ignatius,  "Let  assem- 


Wesley's  Works,  vol.  iii.  p,  49.3. 


252 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


blies  be  often  gathered ;  inquire  Rfter  all  hi/ name ;  despise 
not  servant-men  or  maids/' 

When  to  all  this  we  add  that  it  is  the  leader's  duty  to 
visit  the  sick,  look  after  the  delinquent,  report  the  disor- 
derly, and  attend  strictly  to  the  weekly  collections,  it  is 
evident  the  number  of  his  class  should  be  proportioned  to 
the  time  he  has  to  spare  for  these  duties ;  for  leaders  ordi- 
narily require  most  of  their  time  to  look  after  their  own 
private  and  secular  affairs.  The  plan  of  enormous  classes 
is,  therefore,  a  very  unwise,  if  not  a  destructive,  policy.  It 
ought  not  to  be  submitted  to,  except  as  a  matter  of  extreme 
necessity,  and  even  then  the  design  of  the  class  meeting 
cannot  be  fully  accomplished,  because  the  leader  is  over- 
burdened. Far  better  were  it,  in  such  cases,  to  constitute 
female  leaders ;  and  many  experienced  sisters  can  be  found 
who  can  extend  spiritual  care  to  a  small  class,  and  transact 
all  the  business  of  the  office,  as  well  as  any  of  the  brethren. 
Diminish  the  size  of  the  classes,  and  many  leaders  can  be 
found  who  will  answer  well,  who  now  decline  the  charge  of 
the  larger  classes. 

We  hesitate  not  a  moment  to  suggest  the  adoption — eveiy- 
ivJiere  it  is  possible  to  do  it — of  the  disciplinary  plan  of 
ahout  twelve  persons  in  a  class.''  This  was  done  in  early 
Methodism,  when,  of  course,  the  number  of  persons  proper 
as  leaders  was  much  smaller  comparatively  than  it  is  now. 
Let  the  churches  everywhere  and  immediately  be  regulated 
strictly  upon  this  principle,  and  continue  to  be  so  regulated 
in  future,  and,  in  a  short  time,  the  most  enlarged  success  will 
follow.  A  most  gratifying  change  in  a  few  weeks  will  be 
obvious.  The  whole  church  will  wake  up  as  from  sleep, 
and  unbounded  prosperity,  in  spiritual  and  temporal  affairs, 
will  be  enjoyed  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our 
church.  It  is  impossible  for  the  church  to  flourish  to  mtich 
extent,  in  either  of  these  respects,  upon  the  plan  of  enor- 
mously large  classes. 


HOW-  TO  MAKE  CLASSES  PROSPER.  253 


We  will  dwell  a  moment  longer  on  this  most  important 
branch  of  the  preacher's  duties,  because  herein  lies  a  most 
wholesome  remedy  to  most  of  the  evils  at  present  embarrass- 
ing the  progress  and  impeding  the  prosperity  of  the  Method- 
ist Church.  The  mammoth  size  of  the  classes  will  inevi- 
tably break  down  the  institution  of  classes  in  any  place  :  the 
leader  cannot  attend  to  the  solemn  and  important  duties  of 
his  office  in  any  such  case,  and  the  greater  portion  of  the 
class,  consequently,  must  be  without  spiritual  care,  and  so 
fall  away,  and  the  rest  ordinarily,  with  few  exceptions,  be  dis- 
couraged. For  example  :  the  class  is  composed  of  thirty  or 
forty  members,  ten  of  whom  ordinarily  attend  class ;  though 
this,  in  some  places,  is  a  large  concession ;  how  can  the  leader, 
ordinarily  dependent  upon  his  daily  labor  for  support,  attend 
to  his  daily  labors,  and  visit  in  a  single  week  twenty  or 
thirty  absentees  ?  It  is  impossible.  But  say  the  class  is 
composed  of  twelve  members,  and  eight  or  ten  are  ordi- 
narily present ;  it  is  now  an  easy  matter  for  the  leader  to 
spare  time  during  the  week  to  visit  the  few  absentees.  Be- 
side, in  the  large  classes,  one  disposed  to  neglect,  will  easily 
imagine  that  he  will  not  be  missed  in  the  crowd — enough  will 
attend  without  him ;  but  in  the  smaller  classes  no  one  can 
fall  upon  this  fallacious  expedient.  Moreover,  in  the  large 
classes,  should  an  unusually  large  number  at  any  time  at- 
tend, the  leader  has  not  time  in  the  brief  service  to  attend 
to  the  spiritual  state  of  each  one  present,  and  so  the  occa- 
sion is  not  only  tedious  in  itself,  but  comparatively  profitless. 
Further,  in  the  large  classes  it  is  impossible  for  the  leader 
to  attend  to  the  financial  afikirs  of  the  church ;  in  the  small 
classes  it  is  easily  and  pleasantly  done.  Once  more  :  the  re- 
duction of  the  size  of  the  classes,  and  a  corresponding  en- 
largement of  the  number  of  the  classes,  will  bring  out  from 
the  body  of  the  church  a  larger  number  of  useful  and  active 
men  who,  as  leaders,  will  share  in  the  labors  of  governing 
the  church,  and  thus  make  the  labor  of  the  pastor  and  of 

22 


254  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


each  official  member  easy,  delightful,  and  profitable.  Sud- 
denly the  pastor  finds  himself  surrounded  by  forty  or  fifty 
counsellors  and  helpers,  each  supporting  the  other,  and  all 
supporting  the  pastor, — no  one  having  more  on  his  hands 
and  heart  than  he  can  do ;  each  understanding  his  whole 
duty — and  the  performance  of  his  whole  duty  being  easy ; 
and  the  pastor  at  a  glance  surveying  his  whole  charge  as  it 
is.  Forty  or  fifty  men,  or  more,  if  required  in  a  large  charge, 
engaged  in  the  noble  and  holy  work  of  regulating  the  church, 
and  leading  souls  to  glory;  oh,  it  is  animating  !  Twenty 
men  in  the  same  charge,  burdened,  oppressed,  and  exhausted 
with  the  cares,  and  labors,  and  responsibilities  of  church- 
government,  spiritual  and  financial ;  oh,  it  is  discouraging, 
it  is  crushing,  to  the  boldest  pastor  and  the  best  official  body  in 
the  land  !  Again :  fifty  classes  as  the  nurseries  of  revival,  re- 
vivals would  break  out  in  every  part  of  the  ample  bounds  of 
Methodism !  Once  more :  enlarge  the  number  of  the  classes, 
and  as  the  class-rooms  are  the  principal  nurseries  of  the  Me- 
thodist ministry,  a  proportionable  number  of  preachers  would 
come  forth  annually  from  these  sacred  schools  and  holy  re- 
tirements, to  supply  the  utmost  wants  of  the  church;  and  then 
— not  as  now  we  feel  everywhere- — would  there  be  felt  any- 
where the  want  of  laborers  in  the  vineyard.^'  You  may  say, 
there  are  difficulties  to  all  this ;  we  answer,  they  are  imaginary, 
they  are  nothing.  God  help  us  !  In  a  neighboring  charge, 
the  change  we  suggest  has  been  recently  made,  and  the 
whole  church  seems  to  have  been  suddenly  revived  as  from 
the  dead.    God  help  us.l 


CHAPTEE  III. 


THE  NATURE  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  LEADERS. 

1.  The  institution  of  tlie  office  of  class-leaders  may  be 
defended  from  the  apostolic  practice.  We  have  already 
shown  that  no  definite  and  invariable  form  of  church- 
government  is  prescribed  in  the  New  Testament,  and,  con- 
sequently, it  is  probable  that  the  apostles  did  not  observe  a 
fixed  and  invariable  course  of  settling  the  external  and 
circumstantial  government  of  the  churches  they  planted, 
but  adopted  a  mode  or  form  of  government  according  to 
circumstances  of  places  and  persons.  We  are  not  to  con- 
clude that  the  form  of  government  which  they  observed  in 
some  places  was  their  general  or  universal  practice,  for  this 
would  be  a  universal  conclusion  from  particular  premises. 
The  difierent  state,  condition,  and  number  in  the  apostolic 
churches,  and  in  the  churches  founded  after  the  apostolic 
times,  required  not  only  difierent  rites  and  customs,  but  a 
multitude  of  new  and  corresponding  offices  and  officers. 
All  the  apostles  had  not  equal  success  in  all  places,  and, 
consequently,  a  small  church  did  not  require  the  same 
number  of  officers  to  govern  it  as  the  larger  churches  did. 
Peter  himself  did  not  always  preach  with  the  same  success 
which  attended  his  first  sermon.  Paul  had  but  few  converts 
in  Athens.  In  smaller  churches,  a  smaller  number  of 
officers  might  discharge  the  work  of  spiritual  care  than  was 
required  in  larger  churches.  The  duty  of  officers  lying 
in  reference  to  the  people,  where  the  people  were  but  few, 
one  constant,  settled  officer,  with  deacons  under  him,  might, 
with  as  much  ease,  discharge  the  work,  as,  in  a  numerous 

255 


256  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


church,  the  joint  help  of  many  officers  was  necessary  to 
carry  on/^"^  The  same  author  :  They  have  either  a  very 
low  opinion  of  the  work  of  a  gospel  bishop,  or  very  little 
consideration  of  the  zeal,  activity,  and  diligence  which  was 
then  used  in  preaching,  reproving,  exhorting,  in  season,  out 
of  season,  that  think  one  single  person  was  able  to  undergo 
it  all.  Discipline  was  a  great  deal  more  strict  then,  preach- 
ing more  diligent,  men  more  apprehensive  of  the  weight  of 
their  function,  than  for  any  to  undertake  such  a  care  and 
charge  of  souls  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  ever  to 
know,  observe,  or  watch  over,  so  as  to  give  an  account  for 
them.  Beside,  while  we  suppose  this  one  person  employed 
in  the  duties  of  his  flock,  what  leisure  or  time  could  such 
a  one  have  to  preach  to  the  Gentiles  and  unbelieving  Jews 
in  order  to  their  conversion.^^f  Stillingfleet  here  hits 
exactly  upon  the  organization  of  our  itinerant  ministry,  and 
the  class-leaders  as  helpers.  The  apostles  laid  out  their 
work  for  subjecting  the  world  to  the  obedience  of  faith ; 
and,  while  they  advanced  in  their  itinerant  labors  among 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  they  left  the  churches  thus  planted 
under  such  officers  as  necessity  required.  They  must  have 
done  this,  or  confined  their  labors  and  lives  to  settled  and 
r  particular   churches.     So  with  the   Methodist  ministry 

exactly:  in  order  that  they  may  ^^go  into''  as  much  of 
'Hhe  world''  as  possible,  "and  preach  the  gospel  to''  as 
many  as  possible ;  and  that  they  may  depart  from  place  to 
place,  though  for  a  short  time,  they  must  leave  the  class- 
leaders  to  look  after  and  watch  over  the  fruits  of  their 
labors :  otherwise  they  must  abridge  their  labors,  abrogate 
the  itinerant  plan,  and  settle  where  churches  are  established, 
or  where  a  new  church  may  be  planted :  the  alternative  is 
between  the  office  of  the  class-leaders  and  the  abandonment 
of  the  itinerancy.    The  world  is  to  be  converted  by  the 


*  Stillingfleet's  Irenicum,  p.  349. 


t  Ibid.  p.  356. 


DUTIES  OF  LEADERS. 


257 


preaching  of  tlie  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  and  it  is  easy  to 
see  with  what  rapidity,  by  the  aid  of  the  leaders,  the 
Methodist  ministry  have  advanced  in  the  work  of  preaching 
— passing  consecutively  from  revival  to  revival  around  their 
circuits,  and  leaving  the  fruits  of  revival  under  the  spiritual 
care  of  the  leaders.  The  principal  work  of  Paul  was  to 
preach  the  gospel  and  so  of  the  other  apostles ;  and  so 
of  the  ministry  of  Christ  in  all  ages,  especially  an  itinerant  * 
ministry ;  and  where  time  over  and  above  for  this  work  is 
insufficient  for  the  full  discharge  of  pastoral  duties,  the 
necessity  of  helpers  in  the  work  is  obvious. 

From  the  nature  and  hurden  of  a  settled  ministry  in 
other  churches,  the  necessity  of  helpers,  like  the  class- 
leaders,  has  been  felt  and  acknowledged.  ^'  It  is  a  lament- 
able impediment  to  the  reformation  of  the  church  and  the 
saving  of  souls,  that,  in  most  popular  towns,  there  are  but 
one  or  two  men  to  oversee  many  thousand  souls,  and  so 
there  are  not  laborers  in  any  degree  equal  to  the  work ;  but 
it  becomes  an  impossible  thing  to  them  to  do  any  consider- 
able measure  of  that  personal  duty  which  should  be  done  by 
faithful  pastors  to  all  the  flock.^'* 

The  sub-delegation  of  authority  to  the  class-leaders  is  one 
of  the  grand  secrets  of  our  good  and  efficient  church- 
government.  Dr.  Southey,  on  the  delegation  and  sub- 
delegation  of  authority  adopted  in  the  Madras  system  of 
education,  observes,  That  which  gives  in  a  school  to  the 
master  the  hundred  eyes  of  Argus  and  the  hundred  hands 
of  Briareus,  might  in  a  state  give  omniprescence  to  law  and 
omnipotence  to  order.  This  is  indeed  the  fair  ideal  of  a 
commonwealth.^'-f  Such  is  a  fair  illustration  of  the  Method- 
istic  economy.  Without  the  sub-delegation  of  authority 
to  the  class-leaders  as  subordinate  religious  teachers,  the 


*  Baxter's  Reformed  Pastor,  p.  261, 
+  Prospects  and  Progress  of  Society,  vol.  i.  p.  105. 
22* 


258  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


duties  of  an  itinerant  ministry  could  not  be  adequately 
discliarged.  They  are  a  medium  of  communication,  in  the 
leaders'  meeting,  between  the  pastors  and  their  people.  In 
the  absence  of  a  direct  pastoral  superintendence,  they  are 
officers  distributed  in  every  part  of  the  church,  giving 
"  omnipresence  to  law,  omnipotence  to  order,''  and  univer- 
sality to  the  life  and  power  of  Methodism.  They  are  the 
almost  countless  sentinels  in  the  great  camp  of  Methodism; 
and  may  no  one  abandon  or  fall  asleep  at  his  post !  Some 
of  the  others  were  desired  to  overlook  the  rest,  that  we  (the 
preachers)  might  know  whether  they  walked  worthy  of  the 
gospel.'"^  They  are  like  the  disciples  who  arranged  the 
multitude  in  companies,  and  broke  to  them  again  the  bread 
which  they  received  from  Christ.  It  is  their  duty  to  make 
that  personal  and  appropriate  application  of  the  truth  to  the 
peculiarities  of  the  individual  members  of  the  classes  which 
the  preacher  cannot  make. 

2.  Duties  of  class-leaders.  We  now  enter  probably  upon 
the  most  important  part  of  this  treatise.  It  is  here  the 
author  would  concentrate  his  whole  energies,  and  most  ear- 
nestly invoke  the  special  assistance  of  Divine  grace.  As 
Methodism  depends  to  such  a  vast  extent  upon  the  classes 
for  its  vigor,  simplicity,  purity,  efficiency,  and  very  being, 
surely  to  the  same  extent  the  leaders  are  answerable  for  the 
consequences — for  the  superintendence  and  guidance  of  the 
classes  are  committed  mainly  to  them.  That  the  classes,  in 
a  thousand  places,  are  in  a  languishing  condition,  there  is 
no  doubt;  and  that  this  sad  state  of  things  is  attributable 
principally  to  the  delinquency  of  the  leaders,  there  is  like- 
wise no  doubt.  But  for  the  solid,  substantial  framework 
and  practical  developement  of  the  aggressive  department  of 
Methodism,  it  would  be  a  wonder  that  we  have,  notwith- 


*  Dr.  Bunting's  able  "  Sketch  of  the  Character  of  the  late  Rev.  Joseph 
Benson."—  Wesley  an  3fethodist  Mag.j  N,  S.,  vol.  i.  1822,  p.  77. 


\ 


DUTIES  OP  LEADERS.        *  259 

standing  the  partial  suspension  of  the  class-meeting  system, 
advanced  at  all.  We  do  not,  however,  ascribe  the  general 
neglect  of  the  class-meeting  system  wholly  to  the  leaders. 
As  preachers  we  are  willing  to  acknowledge  our  delinquency, 
and  take  our  share  of  condemnation  for  the  existing  state 
of  things.  Oh,  that  as  pastors,  we  may  take  heed  unto 
ourselves,  and  to  all  the  flock  over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
hath  made  us  overseers,  to  feed  the  church  of  God,  which 
he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood  !'^*  May  God  help 
us !  But  how  shall  the  leaders  perform  their  duties  unless 
they  know  what  they  are  ?  How  few  leaders  know  what 
their  duties  are !  how  few  give  themselves  the  trouble  to 
examine  what  their  duties  are  !  and  how  much  fewer  still 
perform  their  duties  when  known  !  The  duties  of  leaders 
are  more  in  number,  and  greater  in  importance,  than  is  ordi- 
narily supposed.  These  we  shall  now  consider.  May  God 
help  us ! 

(1.)  It  is  the  duty  of  the  leader  to  inquire  particularly 
into  the  inward  spiritual  state  of  each  member  of  his  class : 
to  inquire  how  their  souls  prosper.^'f 

(i.)  To  inquire  what  are  their  individual  trials,  and  whether 
they  fall  by,  or  conquer  them  ? 

(ii.)  To  inquire  of  all  whether  they  now  believe  ?  Now 
enjoy  the  life  of  God  ?  Whether  they  grow  in  grace,  or 
decline  ?  And  if  they  decline,  what  is  the  cause  ?  and  what 
is  the  cure  ? 

(iii.)  Whether  they  aim  constantly  at  being  wholly  de- 
voted to  God  ?  or  would  compromise  their  duty,  and  keep 
back  a  part,  though  a  small  part,  a  very  small  part  ? 

(iv.)  Whether  they  see  God^s  hand  in  every  thing  that 
befalls  them?  and  how  they  bear  whatever  he  lays  upon 
them,  or  permits  to  befall  them  ? 

(v.)  Whether  they  take  up  their  cross  daily  ?  cheerfully  ? 


Acts  XX.  28. 


t  Discipline,  1854,  p.  29. 


260  DUTIES  OE  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


resist  the  bent  of  nature  ?  and  oppose  selfishness  in  all  its 
insidious  forms,  and  detect  it  in  all  its  disguises  ? 

(vi.)  Whether  they  humble  themselves  in  every  thing  ?  are 
willing  to  be  persecuted  for  Christ^ s  sake  ?  or  to  be  blamed 
and  despised  for  doing  good  ?  or  account  it  the  greatest 
honor  that  Christ  appoints  them  to  walk  with  him  in  paths 
that  are  peculiarly  his  own  ?  or  are  willing  to  drink  of  Ms 
cup  ?  and  to  be  baptised  with  Ms  haptism  ? 

(vii.)  Whether  they  can  cordially  love  those  that  despite- 
fully  use  them  ? 

(viii.)  Whether  in  all  they  suffer,  they  seek  the  entire 
destruction  of  inward  idolatry,  pride,  self-will,  and  impa- 
tience ?  and  whether  in  the  spiritual  forms  of  these,  espe- 
cially of  self-will,  they  see  through  all  their  specious  dis- 
guises something  of  self,  under  the  pretence  of  seeking 
nothing  but  the  glory  of  G-od  ? 

(ix.)  To  inquire  concerning  prayer,  its  frequency,  its  power, 
and  answers ;  concerning  faith,  its  increase,  or  decay ;  con- 
cerning distrust  of  themselves,  and  consciousness  of  their 
own  vileness  and  nothingness. 

(x.)  How  they  improve  their  talents  ?  whether  they  have 
zeal  for  doing  good,  and  in  ail  they  do  ?  or  have  patience  in 
all  suffering  ?  or  gratitude  for  all  they  receive  from  God  ? 
and  live  above  the  world,  and  Christ  is  all  in  all  to  them  ? 

(xi.)  Whether  they  have  a  clear,  full,  abiding  conviction 
that  without  inward  and  outward,  complete  and  universal 
holiness,  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord  ? 

And  they  may  inquire  particularly  as  follows : — 

(xii.)  Are  you  a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus  ?  Have 
old  things  passed  away,  and  all  things  become  new  ?  Are 
your  judgments  new,  of  yourself,  as  the  child  of  God?  Of 
happiness,  that  it  is  not  in  riches,  honor,  pleasure,  or  the 
enjoyment  of  any  creature;  but  in  the  enjoyment  of  God, 
delight  in  his  service,  and  foretastes  of  the  rivers  of  plea- 
sure which  flow  at  his  right  hand  forevermore      Of  holiness, 


/ 


DUTIES  OF  LEADERS. 


261 


that  it  is  not  a  mere  outward,  formal  thing,  and  consists  not 
merely  in  doing  no  harm,  or  in  doing  good,  or  in  using  the 
ordinances  of  Grod ;  but  that  it  is  the  life  of  God  felt  in  the 
soul,  the  image  of  God  stamped  upon  the  heart,  an  entire 
renewal  of  the  mind  in  every  temper,  thought,  disposition, 
and  purpose,  after  the  likeness  of  Christ  ? 

(xiii.)  Are  your  designs  new  ?  Not  to  accumulate  trea- 
sures upon  earth,  nor  to  gain  the  admiration  and  praise  of 
men,  nor  to  indulge  in  the  pleasures  of  sense,  nor  to  enjoy 
and  conform  to  the  fashions,  and  habits,  and  customs  of  this 
world ;  but  to  recover  the  image  of  God,  to  have  the  life  of 
God  planted  in  the  soul,  to  be  renewed  after  his  likeness 
in  righteousness  and  true  holiness/'  and  spend  the  whole  life 
in  the  communion  and  service  of  God  ? 

(xiv.)  Are  your  desires  new  ?  No  longer  fixed  on  earthly 
things;  but  the  whole  train  of  passions  and  inclinations — 
love,  joy,  hope,  fear,  sorrow — set  on  things  above  ?  Though 
other  desires  sometimes  rise  in  the  heart,  do  they  reign-? 
Do  you  put  them  under  your  feet,  through  Christ  which 
strengtheneth  you  V 

(xv.)  Is  your  conversation  new  ?  Is  it  always  seasoned 
with  salt,''  that  it  may  minister  grace  to  the  hearer  V 
Are  you  ever  reminded  that  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be 
condemned,  and  by  thy  words  thou  shall  be  justified 
That  for  every  vain  and  idle  word  thou  must  give  account 
in  the  day  of  judgment  Is  your  conversation  such  as 
becometh  the  gospel  of  Christ?'' — simple,  sincere,  honest, 
truthful,  humble,  prudent,  holy,  spiritual  ? 

(xvi.)  Are  your  actions  new  ?  Is  your  life  singly  devoted 
to  the  glory  of  God  ?  Is  your  substance  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  God  ?  Is  your  time  employed  in  obeying  all  the 
commandments  of  God  ?  Whether  you  eat  or  drink,  or 
whatever  you  do,  does  all  spring  from  the  love  of  God  and 
man,  and  lead  to  the  glory  of  God  and  good  of  man  ?  Do 
you  find  a  measure  at  least  of  the    fruits  of  the  Spirit — love, 


262  DUTIES  OP  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 

peace,  joy,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  meekness,  temperance'' 
— controlling  your  actions  ?  Have  you  increasing  deliglit  in 
good  actions  ?  And  so  in  strictly  religious  duties  ?  Have 
you  deadness  and  wandering  in  public  and  private  prayer  ? 
Have  you  frequently  nothing  more  tlian  a  cold  and  formal 
attention  in  the  holy  communion  ?  or  in  the  preaching  of 
the  word  ?  or  in  the  praise  of  the  house  of  ijrod  ?  or  in  read- 
ing the  word  of  God?  or  in  fasting?  or  in  the  services  of 
the  class-room  ? 

(xvii.)  Have  you  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  though  it  may 
not  be  a  settled,  lasting  joy?  Have  you  peace,  though  it 
may  not  be  that  degree  of  it  which  excludes  the  possibility 
of  all  doubt  and  slavish  fear  ?  Have  you  a  measure  of  faith 
that  you  are  "  accepted  in  the  Beloved,'^  though  it  may  not 
be  the  full  assurance  of  faith  ?  Have  you  a  measure  of 
love,  though  it  may  not  be  perfect  love  ?  though  you  may 
not  have  daily  a  sensible  increase  of  it  ? 

(xviii.)  Have  you  present  freedom  from  sin,  or  is  what 
you  enjoy  merely  a  suspension  of  sin,  and  not  a  deliverance 
from  it  ? 

(xix.)  Your  ultimate  design  may  be  to  glorify  God,  and 
save  your  soul.  But  do  a  thousand  little  intermediate  de- 
signs continually  and  insidiously  creep  in  upon  you,  such  as 
to  please  thyself,  to  do  thy  own  will,  to  enjoy  thyself  in  eat- 
ing and  drinking,  and  in  the  company  of  friends,  and  in 
earthly  happiness  ? 

(xx.)  Your  desires  may  be  new  and  spiritual.  But  not 
all :  some  old  ones  may  remain — are  they  subdued  ?  Your 
great  desire  may  be  to  have  Christ  formed  in  the  heart  by 
faith  'j[  but  do  not  little  desires  daily  steal  into  the  heart, 
and  sometimes  perplex  you  no  little  ?  And  so  your  hopes 
and  fears  may  chiefly  refer  to  God;  but  then  do  not  a  thou- 
sand little  worldly  hopes  and  fears  enter  in  disguise  ?  and  are 
not  your  desires,  passions,  and  inclinations  often  partly  spirit- 
ual and  partly  natural,  partly  heavenly  and  partly  earthly  ? 


DUTIES  OF  LEADERS.  2# 

(xxi)  .  Do  you  guard  against  and  avoid  levity,  slackness 
in  good  works,  and  despising  little  things  ?  Do  you  attend 
conscientiously  to  the  smallest  particulars  in  religion  ?  and 
do  you  scrupulously  avoid  the  smallest  sins  ? 

(xxii)  .  You  may  have  a  weak  faith,  but  do  not  therefore 
conclude  that  you  have  no  saving  faith  at  all — that  you  are 
not  justified.  Mr.  Wesley  is  very  clear  upon  this  point. 
"By  weak  faith  I  understand,  1.  That  which  is  mixed 
with  fear,  particularly  of  not  enduring  to  the  end.  2.  That 
which  is  mixed  with  doubt,  whether  we  have  not  deceived 
ourselves,  and  whether  our  sins  be  indeed  forgiven.  3.  That 
which  has  not  yet  purified  the  heart  fully,  not  from  all  its 
idols.  And  thus  weak  I  find  the  faith  of  almost  all  believers 
to  be,  within  a  short  time  after  they  have  first  peace  with 
God.  Yet  that  weak  faith  is  faith,  appears,  1.  From  St. 
Paul:  ^Him  that  is  weak  in  faith,  receive.'  2.  From  St. 
J ohn,  speaking  of  believers  who  were  little  children,  as  well 
as  of  young  men  and  fathers.  3.  From  our  Lord^s  own 
words :  ^  Why  are  ye  fearful,  0  ye  of  little  faith  ?  O 
thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt  ?  I  have 
prayed  for  thee,  (Peter,)  that  thy  faith  fail  thee  not.'  There- 
fore he  then  had  faith.  Yet  so  we^  was  that  faith,  that 
not  only  doubt  and  fear,  but  gross  sin  in  the  same  night  pre- 
vailed over  him.  Therefore,  there  are  degrees  in  faith ;  and 
weak  faith  may  be  true  faith.''* 

(xxiii.)  Do  you  still  preserve  your  "  confidence,  which 
hath  great  recompense  of  reward  ?"  Though  joy  sometimes 
dies  away,  and  love  waxes  cold,  and  your  peace  is  assailed, 
and  doubt  and  fear  oppress  you,  and  temptation  is  strong 
and  uninterrupted,  and  you  find  the  body  of  sin  remaining 
in  you  thrusting  sore  at  you,  yet  cast  not  away  your  confi- 
dence,— and  yet  a  little  while  and  Christ  will  "  come  unto 
you  again,  and  your  hearts  shall  rejoice,  and  your  joy  no 


*  Journal  vol.  iii.  p.  186. 


264       DUTirs  OF  preachers,  leaders,  etc. 


man  taketh  from  you/^  You  may  be  tempted  even  to  agony, 
and  yet  be  a  believer,  as  Christ  was  tempted,  and  yet  was 
the  Son  of  Grod.  You  may  find  sin  remaining  in  yon,  and 
yet  be  in  a  state  of  justification,  though,  in  the  proper  sense, 
not  yet  in  a  state  of  sanctification.  Fear  not;  be  faithful; 
and  yet  a  little  while  and  you  shall  be  endued  with  power 
from  on  high,  whereby  you  may  purify  yourselves,  even 
as  he  is  pure/'  and  be  holy,  as  he  who  hath  called  you 
is  holy/' 

(2.)  The  leader  is  to  inquire  particularly,  not  in  general 
terms,  into  the  outward  life  of  every  member  of  his  class, 
that  is,  how  each  person  observes  the  miticard  rules/^"^ 
And  what  are  these  outward  rules?  They  are  the  General 
Eules^^f— "  all  of  which  we  are  taught  of  God  to  observe, 
even  in  his  written  word,  which  is  the  only  rule,  and  the 
suf&cient  rule,  both  of  our  faith  and  practice/'^  Conformity 
to  these  rules,  therefore,  is  required  as  a  test  of  religious 
character,  since  they  are  all  contained  substantially  in  the 
Bible ;  and  "it  is  expected  of  all  who  continue  in  these  socie- 
ties, that  they  should  evidence  their  desire  of  salvation^'  by 
conformity  to  them.  But  how  can  this  evidence  be  obtained 
by  inquiries  of  a  general  nature?  Indeed,  it  is  a  humi- 
liating fact,  many  do  not  know  what  these  rules  are,  probably 
never  read  them,  or  heard  them  read  in  their  lives;  and  how 
can  they  answer  conscientiously  and  intelligently  any  gene- 
ral questions  respecting  them  ?  The  leader  cannot  discharge 
his  duty  fally,  nor  accomplish  the  design  of  class  meetings 
effectually,  by  questions  in  general  terms.  He  is  to  be  par- 
ticular. There  are  three  general  divisions,  each  with  speci- 
fications. 

Lei  the  leader  take  his  Discipline,  and  turn  to  these  speci- 
fications of  religious  duty,  and  make  them  subjects  of  par- 
ticular study  himself,  that  he  may  make  them  subjects  of 

Discipline,  1854,  p.  97.  f  Ibid.  p.  27.  +  Ibid.  p.  33. 


DUTIES  OF  LEADERS. 


265 


particular  and  careful  inquiry/'  The  first  general  division 
is,  Doing  no  harm,  by  avoiding  evil  of  every  kind,  especially 
that  which  is  generally  practised:  such  as^' — and  here  fol- 
low many  prohibitions.  As  his  eye  passes  over  these,  he 
will  find  several  which  he  knows  he  need  not  ordinarily 
make  subjects  of  investigation ;  but  there  are  many  of  them 
which  may  be  made  subjects  of  particular  inquiry.  Such 
as  The  profaning  the  day  of  the  Lord,  by  doing  ordinary 
work  thereon,^'  &c.  How  few  are  entirely  innocent  of  this ! 
to  mention  but  a  single  violation,  ordinary  cooking.  Another : 
^^Uncharitable  and  unprofitable  conversation. Another: 

Doing  to  others  as  we  would  not  they  should  do  to  us.'' 
Another:  Doing  what  we  know  is  not  for  the  glory  of 
God :"  as,  The  putting  on  of  gold  and  costly  apparel — the 
taking  such  diversions  as  cannot  be  used  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus — the  singing  those  songs^  or  reading  those^ooks, 
which  do  not  tend  to  the  knowledge  or  love  of  God/'  An- 
other:  "  Softness  and  needless  self-indulgence.''  Another: 

Laying  up  treasure  upon  earth."  Another:  ^^Borrow- 
ing without  a  probability  of  paying;  or  taking  up  goods 
without  a  probability  of  paying  for  them."  Alas  !  how 
general  in  our  church  is  the  violation  of  some  of  these  pro- 
hibitions !  and  yet  how  seldom  are  they  made  subjects  of 
inquiry,  much  less  of  reproof,  by  the  leader  or  by  the  pas- 
tor !  Let  the  leader,  nevertheless,  do  his  duty.  Let  him 
make  vSpecial  inquiry  on  these  particulars,  or  he  will  not  do 
his  duty. 

The  second  general  division  is,  Doing  good,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  all  men:"  and  here  follow  many  specifications. 
As,  doing  good  to  the  bodies  of  men,  of  the  ability  which 
God  giveth,  by  giving  food  to  the  hungry,  clothing  the 
naked,  and  visiting  or  helping  them  that  are  sick  or  in  pri- 
son." This  is  a  duty  of  almsgiving  and  charity.  Who  dis- 
charges it  in  proportion  to  the  ^^ability  which  God  giveth  ?" 
Feeding  the  hungry,  clothing  the  naked,  visiting  the  sick 
23 


266  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


and  in  prison,  are  duties  connected  with  acquittal  at  the 
judgment ;  and  the  leader  may,  with  the  highest  propriety, 
inquire  into  the  discharge  of  them.  The  leader  may  ask 
his  class  if  they  save  any  thing  for  the  needy  ?  if  they  do 
any  thing  for  the  poor  ?  if  they  visit  the  sick  when  it  is 
proper  to  do  it  ?  and  so  on.  Another :  doing  good  to  the 
"  souls  of  men,  by  instructing,  reproving,  or  exhorting  all  we 
have  any  intercourse  with;  trampling  underfoot  that  enthu- 
siastic doctrine,  that  '  we  are  not  to  do  good  unless  our  hearts 
are  free  to  it.^  ^'    In  this  rule  there  is  a  volume.    Another  : 

By  all  possible  dilligence  and  frugality,  that  the  gospel 
be  not  blamed.''  Another  :  By  runniog  with  patience 
the  race  which  is  set  before  them,  denying  themselves j  and 
taking  up  their  cross  daily  ;  submitting  to  bear  the  reproach 
of  Christ,  to  be  as  the  filth  and  offscouring  of  the  world ; 
and  looking  that  men  should  say  all  manner  of  evil  of  them 
falsely  for  the  Lord^s  sahe^  Here  are  the  duties  of  pa- 
tience, self-denial,  bearing  the  cross,  and  meekness,  which 
surely  are  fit  subjects  of  special  inquiry  by  the  leader. 

The  third  general  division  is,  attending  upon  all  the 
ordinances  of  Grod :  such  as,''  and  here  follow  many  im- 
portant specifications.  As,  The  public  worship  of  God." 
The  leader  should  frequently  interrogate  any  of  his  class  on 
this  subject  who  he  does  not  know  comply  with  this  rule. 
This  refers  to  the  weekly  prayer-meetings,  or  any  regular 
public  religious  service.  Another  ;  The  ministry  of  the 
word,  either  read  or  expounded."  The  leader  should  be 
particular  on  this  duty.  Another  :  The  supper  of  the 
Lord."  Another :    Family  and  private  prayer."  Another  : 

Searching  the  Scriptures."  Another:  Fasting  or  absti- 
nence." All  these  duties  should  be  made  subjects  of  fre- 
quent, special,  and  careful  inquiry.  But  how  few  leaders 
know  whether  or  not  any  of  his  class  attend  to  all  these 
requisitions  !  How,  then,  does  he  know  whether  the  mem- 
bers of  his  class  observe  the  "outward  rules  ?"    The  design 


DUTIES  OF  LEADERS. 


267 


of  class  meetings^  we  repeat,  requires  that  he  make  a  de- 
tailed, direct,  and  careful  inquiry  into  all  these  matters. 
Otherwise,  he  must  be,  to  a  very  great  extent,  ignorant  of 
the  religious  state  and  practice  of  those  committed  to  his 
care,  and  must  continue  so  till  he  observe  the  method  we 
have  suggested,  and  which  the  Discipline  requires  he  should 
observe.  Without  making  these  special  and  detailed  in- 
quiries, a  leader  may  meet  his  class  for  a  long  time  without 
knowing  whether  they  are  really  Christians  or  not ;  whether 
or  not  they  are  growing  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
God;''  whether  or  not  they  are  either  experimentally  or 
practically  members  of  the  family  of  God.  The  greatest 
difficulty  most  leaders  find  in  leading  class  is  the  want  of 
something  new  to  say  that  will  be  appropriate  and  profitable. 
But  no  wonder  they  encounter  this  difficulty:  they  are 
ignorant  of  the  experimental  and  practical  religion  of  their 
classes,  and  hence  what  can  be  appropriate  and  profitable  ? 
Observe  the  method  above,  and  the  difficulty  vanishes. 

(3.)  It  is  the  duty  of  the  leader  "to  advise,  reprove, 
comfort,  or  exhort,  as  occasion  may  require.'^* 

(i.)  "  To  advise.''  This  he  can  do  properly  and  success- 
fully only  as  he  becomes  acquainted  with  the  spiritual  con- 
dition and  outward  practice  of  the  members  of  his  class, 
and  no  otherwise.  In  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  to  whom 
shall  a  Christian,  in  spiritual  doubts  and  difficulties,  go  for 
advice,  but  to  his  leader  ? 

(ii.)  To  "reprove."  This  is  sometimes  required,  as  in 
improper  tempers,  or  words,  or  actions;  and  it  should  be 
administered  with  promptness  and  faithfulness,  however 
difficult  or  unpleasant  it  may  be  to  do  it ;  and  yet  it  is  to  be 
given  in  the  "  spirit  of  Christ,"  in  "  meekness  and  love,'^ 
that  offenders  may  bear  it  and  profit  by  it.  And  if  they 
will  not  bear  it,  the  leader  has  discharged  his  duty,  which 


*  Discipline,  1854,  p.  29. 


268        DUTIES  or  preachers,  leaders,  etc. 


he  must  continue  to  discharge  till,  in  his  judgment,  the 
case  shall  be  reported  to  the  preacher. 

(iii.)  To  comfort.''  This  is  his  most  delightful  work, 
and  the  gospel  is  glad  tidings  to  help  him.  The  church  is 
often  in  tears,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  are  often  heard  in 
the  class-room.  Oh,  it  is  a  noble  work,  to  be  engaged  in 
comforting  the  mourner  in  Zion;  in  soothing  the  afflictions 
of  Christians;  in  refreshing  the  desponding;  in  consoling 
the  bereaved;  in  encouraging  those  who  are  hungering  and 
thirsting  after  righteousness;  and  in  exciting  the  ardent  and 
supporting  hope  of  eternal  rest  in  heaven ! 

(iv.)  To  exhort.''  The  occasions  in  which  Christians 
require  exhortation  are  many :  as  in  times  of  temptation, 
persecution,  negligence  of  duty,  declension  in  zeal,  doubts 
and  fears,  irresolution  or  want  of  firmness,  slow  progress  in 
religious  experience,  want  of  diligence  in  attending  to  the 
means  of  grace.  Exhortation  is  a  standing  requirement  of 
the  leader.  Every  time  he  meets  his  class,  it  is  his  duty 
to  exhort  his  members  as  occasion  requires."  And  this 
he  can  do  properly  and  profitably  only  when  he  knows  who 
are  tempted;  who  are  persecuted;  who  are  negligent  of 
duty;  who  are  declining  in  zeal;  who  are  oppressed  with 
doubts  and  fears;  who  are  wavering  or  irresolute;  who  are 
negligent  of  the  means  of  grace  and  outward  duties;  who 
are  seeking  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  and  a  deeper  work  of 
grace:  and  all  he  is  to  urge  most  earnestly  to  persevere 
unto  the  end. 

(4.)  It  is  the  leader's  duty  to  visit  the  sick  members  of 
his  class.  Often  more  intimately  acquainted  with  them 
than  the  pastor  is  or  can  be,  or  with  whom  the  pastor  is 
not  acquainted  at  all,  the  leader  is  prepared  to  extend  the 
most  grateful  and  encouraging  attentions  to  any  that  are 
sick.  His  visits  will  endear  him  the  more  to  them  and  to 
other  members  of  his  class,  and  encourage  the  sick,  when 
well,  to  be  more  faithful  in  meeting  him  in  class;  while  a 


DUTIES  OF  LEADERS. 


neglect  of  this  duty  will  discourage  them,  and  cause  a  loss 
of  confidence  in  the  leader.  At  the  sick-bed  of  the  dying 
saint,  the  leader  stands  at  the  portals  of  heaven,  where  his 
brother  is  almost  at  his  journey's  end,  and  where,  as  an 
inferior  angel,  the  next  step,  he  commits  him  to  a  convoy  of 
superior  angels,  waiting  to  bear  him  to  the  "  inheritance  of 
the  saints  in  light;"  and  he  should  be  there  to  help  him  all 
he  can.  It  will  be  a  great  encouragement  to  the  leader  to 
see  the  saint  die  well;  he  will  never  forget  his  last  words 
and  his  last  looks.  There  he  will  reap  much  of  the  reward 
for  all  his  labors,  which  of  itself  will  be  more  than  enough. 
And  it  is  his  duty  to  inform  the  preacher  of  any  that  are 
sick  in  his  class.  And  this  he  is  to  do  as  promptly  as 
possible,  that  the  pastor  may  extend  the  timely  consolations 
of  religion;  otherwise  it  may  often  happen  that  a  case  of 
sickness  comes  too  late  to  the  pastor's  knowledge  for  him 
to  render  any  aid,  or  it  may  not  come  to  his  knowledge  at 
,  all  till  the  member  is  restored  to  health,  and  informs  him 
that  he  had  been  sick. 

(5.)  It  is  the  leader's  duty  to  inform  the  minister  of 
any  that  walk  disorderly,  and  will  not  be  reproved.''*  The 
duty  here  is  twofold,  and  is  of  the  utmost  importance ;  and 
it  should,  in  both  cases,  be  discharged  with  the  utmost 
faithfulness  and  promptness,  as  all  duties  should  be,  but 
especially  this.  First,  the  leader  is  to  visit  those  who 
neglect  to  meet  their  class,  as  also  those  who  walk  disor- 
derly, and  this  he  should  do  in  all  cases  without  delay. 
The  delay  of  a  few  weeks,  and  sometimes  of  a  single  week, 
may  be  sufficient  to  render  a  case  past  recovery,  while  the 
earliest  attention  possible  may  arrest  declension  in  its  very 
commencement.  The  greater  proportion  of  backsliding  in 
our  church  is  to  be  ascribed,  doubtless,  to  the  want  of 
promptness  in  the  leaders  to  visit  delinquent  members.  A 


*  Discipline,  1854,  p.  29. 
23* 


270  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


few  weeks'  absence  from  class  is  enough,  sometimes,  so  to 
discourage  a  young  Christian  particularly,  as  to  cause  his 
abandonment  of  class  altogether,  and  thus  is  accelerated  his 
return  to  the  world;  both  of  which  a  timely  visit  from  the 
leader  might  have  effectually  prevented.  Besides,  young 
members,  after  a  revival,  may  be  scattered  in  different  parts 
of  a  large  city  or  circuit;  and  it  is  impossible  for  the  pas- 
tor to  see  all  the  delinquent  members  in  a  single  week,  and 
attend  to  his  other  pressing  duties :  the  leaders,  residing  in 
the  neighborhood,  must  make  up  this  lack  of  service. 
Besides,  the  pastor  may  be  engaged  in  a  remote  part  of  his 
circuit,  or  called  away  to  the  sessions  of  his  Conference,  or 
he  may  be  sick ;  and  without  the  faithful  and  timely  visits  of 
the  leader,  delinquency,  in  most  cases,  may  become  in- 
curable. But,  in  the  second  place,  after  the  leader  has 
unsuccessfully  discharged  his  duty,  he  is  to  report  such  as 
will  not  amend  to  the  pastor,  and  this  he  is  to  do,  likewise, 
with  the  utmost  promptness,  when  it  becomes  the  pastor's 
duty  immediately  to  give  his  attention  to  the  case.  The 
same  remarks  apply  to  any  that  walk  disorderly,  and  will 
not  be  reproved.^'  Profound  responsibilities,  truly,  are 
imposed  upon  the  leaders,  requiring  great  energy,  vigilance, 
and  perseverance;  and,  as  the  Discipline  prescribes,  they 
should  ^^be  not  only  men  of  sound  judgment,  but  men 
truly  devoted  to  God.'' 

(6.)  It  is  the  leader's  duty  to  meet  the  ministers  and  the 
stewards  once  a  week,  in  towns  and  cities,  and  on  the  cir- 
cuits as  often  as  practicable,  for  the  purposes  already  men- 
tioned, and  to  pay  the  stewards  what  they  have  received 
of  their  classes  for  the  relief  of  the  preachers,  church,  and 
poor."*  This  is  an  important  duty  which  many  neglect; 
some,  because  they  have  nothing  favorable  to  report  of  their 
classes;  some,  because  they  have  neglected  to  meet  their 


*  Discipline,  1854,  p.  29. 


DUTIES  OF  LEADERS. 


271 


class  during  the  week;  some,  because  they  have  nothing 
financial  to  report;  some,  because  they  are  unwilling  to 
neglect  their  temporal  business  at  the  time;  and  some, 
with  no  excuse  at  all.  Every  leader  always,  when  practica- 
ble, should  be  in  his  place  at  the  leaders'  meeting.  The 
Discipline  expressly  requires  it.  The  duties  of  his  office 
demand  it. 


CHAPTER  IV 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS. 

As  the  duties  of  leaders  are  of  such  importance,  and  so 
great  magnitude,  they  should  not  only  carefully  study  them, 
but  possess  corresponding  qualifications,  that  they  may 
rigidly  and  faithfully  perform  them.  To  the  leaders,  there- 
fore, some  advice  will  not  be  unacceptable,  and,  we  hope,  not 
unprofitable. 

1.  Let  your  graces  be  kept  in  lively,  vigorous,  and  con- 
stant exercise.  When  you  enjoy  a  holy,  animated,  and 
heavenly  frame,  your  classes  will  feel  the  influence  of  it, 
and  be  encouraged  to  seek  the  same  themselves.  Your  ad- 
monitions, your  exhortations,  your  instructions,  your  prayers, 
your  praises,  will  be  sweet  and  heavenly  to  them,  and  your 
company  will  be  pleasant,  because  you  have  been  with  Jesus, 
and  he  accompanies  you  to  the  class-room.  You  will  gather 
the  richest  instructions  from  the  work  of  God  in  your  own 
heart,  and  it  will  be  an  easy  matter  then  to  diflfuse  a  divine 
enchantment  and  interest  over  the  labors  and  services  of  your 
peculiar  office.  Then  with  what  a  tenderness  can  you  raise 
up  the  bowed  down,  comfort  the  mourner,  refresh  the 
bruised  and  almost  broken  heart,  encourage  the  doubt- 
ing, exhort  the  wavering,  and  inspire  the  strong  to  seek  all 
the  fulness  of  God  !  That  is,  your  patience  will  admonish 
the  impatient,  your  meekness  will  restrain  the  murmuring, 
your  resignation  will  encourage  the  complaining,  your  hu- 
mility will  chide  the  proud,  your  self-denial  will  reprove  the 
worldly,  your  faith  will  embolden  the  timid,  your  love  will 
inflame  the  languid,  your  zeal  animate  the  inactive,  your 
272 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS. 


273 


peace  cheer  the  troubled,  your  hope  revive  the  doubting, 
your  joy  refresh  the  sorrowing,  your  experience  heighten 
theirs,  and  all  your  abounding  and  overflowing  graces  spread 
the  charm,  the  balm,  and  the  bloom  of  spiritual  life  around 
the  circle  of  the  class,  and  increase  the  blessedness  of  the 
happy  little  family.  But  if  you  are  cold,  they  will  be  cold ; 
if  you  famish,  they  will  famish ;  if  you  are  dull  in  the  dis- 
charge of  your  duties,  they  will  be  so,  too,  in  the  discharge 
of  theirs ;  if  your  love  and  zeal  decline,  so  will  theirs ;  if 
your  peace  and  joy  subside,  so  will  theirs;  if  the  life  of  God 
languish  in  you,  languor  will  insensibly  creep  over  them ; 
if  your  prayers,  and  songs,  and  counsels,  are  formal  and 
powerless,  they  will  come  and  go  unblest ;  if  your  graces 
droop  into  weakness  and  confusion,  theirs  will  soon  become 
so  likewise.  A  leader  of  a  vigorous  and  progressing  reli- 
gious experience  will  soon  revive  a  cold,  and  formal,  and 
famishing  class ;  and  a  leader  of  a  lifeless  and  formal  reli- 
gion will  soon  enfeeble  and  starve  a  lively  and  thrifty  class. 
You  cannot  kindle  the  celestial  fire  in  your  hearts,  without 
rousing  a^ame  in  their  hearts;  you  cannot  permit  it  to  sink 
in  your  own,  without  seeing  it  expiring  in  theirs ;  you  can- 
not strengthen  on  large  and  liberal  meals  of  the  bread  and 
water  of  life,  without  beholding  others  around  you  induced 
to  partake  cheerfully  of  the  same  gracious  repast ;  and  you 
cannot  waste  away  to  a  sensible  and  painful  leanness  your- 
self, without  a  corresponding  leanness  becoming  visible  in 
those  committed  to  your  care  :  you  cannot  flourish  or  decline 
alone.  O  ye  guides  of  Christ's  little  children,  follow  Christ, 
that  they  may  follow  you !  ye  under-shepherds  of  Christ, 
lead  his  little  flocks  into  the  greenest  pastures,  and  sweetest 
shade,  and  by  the  stillest  waters,  and  to  the  richest  fruits 
and  the  loftiest  eminences  of  Zion  !  ye  teachers  of  the 
classes  in  the  school  of  Christ,  learn  the  more  of  him,  that 
ye  may  teach  them  the  more  !  ye  leaders  of  his  little  bands, 
put  on  the  whole  armor  of  light,  and  keep  it  bright,  and 


274  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


fight  valiantly,  with  them  around  you,  till  you  and  they  are 
more  than  conquerors  !  ye  helpers  of  the  ministry  of  Christ, 
ye  share  in  our  labors,  and  trials,  and  hardships,  and  ye  shall 
share  in  our  rest,  and  joy,  and  glory  at  the  last !  Prepare 
for  your  work  and  your  reward.  The  performance  of  the 
work  will  insure  the  reward. 

2.  Let  your  example  or  outward  life  be  consistent  with 
the  duties  of  your  office.  You  have  great  advantage  over 
most  men  to  do  your  classes  good,  and  so  you  are  in  greater 
danger  of  doing  them  harm.  You  may  undo  by  your  ex- 
ample what  you  teach  by  precept.  Your  outward  lives 
may  contradict  your  professions  in  the  class-room.  Baxter 
says  to  the  preachers :  "  You  may  build  up  an  hour  or  two 
with  your  mouths,  what  all  the  week  after  you  may  pull 
down  with  your  hands;  and  one  proud,  lordly  word,  one 
needless  contention,  one  covetous  action,  may  cut  the  throat 
of  many  a  sermon,  and  blast  the  fruit  of  all  you  have  been 
doing.''  And  the  same  may  be  applied  to  the  class-leader. 
Take  the  General  Kules'' — do  you  keep  them  all  ?  Do 
you  avoid  evil  of  every  kind  ?  Do  you  observe  the  Sabbath 
day  by  doing  no  ordinary  work  therein  ?  Do  you  indulge 
in  no  unprofitable  and  uncharitable  conversation  ?  Do  you 
take  only  those  diversions  that  can  be  used  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  ?  or  sing  those  songs  and  read  those  books 
only  which  tend  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God  ?  Are 
you,  with  all  your  might,  laying  up  treasure  upon  earth  ? 
Do  yotb  borrow  without  the  probability  of  paying,  or  take 
up  goods  without  a  probability  of  paying  for  them  ?  Are 
you  doing  good  of  every  kind  ?  Do  you  give  to  charitable 
objects  according  to  the  ability  which  God  giveth  ?  Are 
you  using  all  possible  diligence  and  frugality,  that  the  gospel 
be  not  blamed  ?  Do  you  deny  yourself,  and  take  up  your 
cross  daily  ?  Do  you  attend  upon  all  the  ordinances  of  God  ? 
Do  you  ever  willingly  neglect  the  public  worship  of  God  or 
the  ministry  of  his  word  ?    Do  you  faithfully  observe  the 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS. 


275 


supper  of  the  Lord  ?  and  family  and  private  prayer  ?  and 
the  love-feast;  and  the  weekly  or  regular  prayer-meetings? 
Do  you  search  the  Scriptures  daily  ?  and  regularly,  or  occa- 
sionally, or  not  at  all,  observe  fasting  or  abstinence?  Or  in 
all,  or  in  any  of  these  important  matters,  are  you  like  other 
men  ?  Do  your  lives  condemn  sin,  and  persuade  men  to 
duty,  or  condemn  religion,  and  dissuade  men  from  duty? 
Does  your  example  abate  or  strengthen  the  prejudices  of 
men  ?  Do  you  "  overcome  evil  with  good,^^  or  are  you  "  over- 
come of  evil  Are  you  meek  and  lowly,  or  proud  and 
resentful?  Are  ?/ot^  self-denying,  or  worldly-minded ?  Do 
you  speak  roughly,  angrily,  or  disrespectfully  of  any  one  or 
to  any  one  ?  or  do  you  "  condescend  to  men  of  low  estate,'^ 
especially  the  poorer  members  of  your  class,  who  are  apt  to 
confound  neglect  with  contempt  ?  Are  you  kind  and  cour- 
teous to  all  ? — to  the  younger  as  a  father,  to  others  as  a 
brother?  Are  you  zealous  of  good  works,^^  abounding 
especially  in  deeds  of  charity  and  benevolence?  such  as 
visiting  the  sick,  relieving  the  poor,  distributing  good  books, 
and  stretching,  not  tightening,  your  purse  to  the  utmost,' ' 
that  you  may  do  all,  not  the  least,  good  you  can  ?  Do  you 
rather  pinch  your  conscience  than  pinch  your  flesh  ?  would 
you  rather  have  little  on  earth,  and  much  in  heaven,  or 
much  on  earth,  and  nothing  in  heaven  ?  or  lock  up  your 
hearts,  than  unlock  heaven  ?  Are  you  known  in  your  town 
or  neighborhood  as  close,  covetous,  penurious  men,  or  as 
wise  and  liberal  stewards  in  your  Master's  service  ?  Do  you 
exhort  your  class  to  feed  the  poor,  and  clothe  the  naked,  and 
yet  do  but  little  or  nothing  yourselves  ?  Do  you  dissuade 
others  from  engaging  in  fashionable  amusements  and  plea- 
sures, and  yet  indulge  in  them  yourselves,  and  teach  and 
encourage  your  families  to  do  the  same  ?  Pardon  me,  my 
brethren :  do  you  warn  your  class  against  the  fascinating 
diversions  of  fashionable  life,  and  yet  are  yourselves  passion- 
ately fond  of  them  ?    I  have  myself  seen — I  will  not  say 


276  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS^  LEADERS,  ETC. 


where — the  Holy  Bible  on  the  stand,  and  the  ^^Life  of 
Washington''  in  two  volumes,  that  is,  the  hachgammon-hox 
or  chess-hoard  J  under  the  stand  !  Do  you  inveigh  against 
popular  customs,  such  as  dancing-schools,  and  yet  send  your 
children  to  them  ?  or  such  as  fashionable  parties,  and  yet 
permit  your  children  to  attend  them  ?  or  such  as  popular 
songs,  and  yet  allow  your  children  to  learn  and  sing  them  ? 

Thou  that  teachest  another,  teachest  thou  not  thyself 
and  those  of  thy  household  ?  While  you  seek  to  overcome 
sin  in  others,  do  you  bow  to  it  yourselves  ?  ^^For  of  whom 
a  man  is  overcome,  of  the  same  is  he  brought  into  bondage/' 
Do  you  reprove  publicly  in  others  what  you  do  secretly,  if  not 
publicly,  yourselves  ?  Do  you  use  many  words  in  buying 
and  selling,  and  are  you  notorious  for  being  keen  in  a  trade 
or  in  a  bargain?  Or  are  you  indolent  in  business,  and 
famous  for  your  indolence  ?  What  say  you  to  these  things  ? 
But  I  forbear.  If  you  plead  guilty  to  these  questions,  in 
the  name  of  God,  my  dear  brethren,  ye  class-leaders,  repent 
and  sin  no  more.  In  the  name  of  the  church,  whose  inte- 
rests and  character  you  represent,  be  holy  men.  In  the 
name  of  your  classes,  do  better  from  this  hour.  Why  should 
you  be  surprised  that  you  feel  so  little  interest  in  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  your  classes  ?  why  should  you  be  surprised  that 
so  few  of  your  members  ordinarily  meet  you  in  class  ?  why 
should  you  be  surprised,  many  of  you,  that  your  classes  are 
virtually  disbanded,  and  your  office  but  a  nominal  thing  ? 
Come,  come !  it  is  high  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep ;  may 
your  interest  for  your  classes  be  revived  with  tenfold  in- 
tensity !  may  your  classes,  now  scattered,  and  cold,  and  dead, 
and  in  confusion,  be  reassembled,  revived,  and  regulated; 
and  may  your  office  be  a  real  and  lasting  benefit  to  the 
churches  with  which  you  are  connected,  and  to  the  neigh- 
borhoods in  which  you  reside !  The  next  advice  will  be  of 
service  to  you. 

3.  Seek  the  highest  qualifications  necessary  for  your  work. 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS, 


277 


0  what  qualifications  are  necessary  for  the  work  of  the 
preacher !  and  well  may  he  cry  out,  Who  is  sufiicient  for 
these  things  But  you  are  the  helpers  next  to  the  preach- 
ers, and  well  may  you  use  the  same  exclamation.  Peter 
says  of  Christians  generally,  What  manner  of  persons 
ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness?^'  and 
this  may  be  said  with  greater  emphasis  of  you  as  guides  of 
Christians.  You  should  spare  no  pains  to  be  fully  qualified 
for  your  work,  which  is  far  more  important  than  the  work 
of  ordinary  Christians.  Yours  is  not  the  work  of  children, 
but  of  men  of  God ;  and  you  should  be  strong  men.  You 
must  be  men  of  great  industry — "  not  slothful  in  business, 
fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord.'^  You  must  be  men  of 
unwearied  patience — be  not  weary  in  well  doing,  for  in  due 
season  ye  shall  reap,  if  ye  faint  not.^'  You  must  be  men  of 
inflexible  firmness — ^'  steadfast,  immovable,  always  abound- 
ing in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that 
your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.^^  Ye  must  be  men 
of  unyielding  perseverance — no  man,  having  put  his  hand 
to  the  plow,  looketh  back.''  Ye  should  be  men  of  burn- 
ing zeal — zealous  of  good  works,''  because  it  is  good  to 
be  zealously  afi*ected  in  a  good  work,"  and  it  was  said  of 
Christ,  the  zeal  of  the  Lord's  house  hath  eaten  me  up," 
and  nothing  great  is  accomplished  without  great  zeal.  You 
should  be  men  of  the  most  scrupulous  punctuality  and  exact 
system — ^'  let  every  thing  be  done  in  decency  and  in  order," 
and  at  the  time."  You  should  be  men  of  great  faith — 
strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God."  You  should  be 
men  of  perfect  love,  and  if  you  are  not,  you  should  seek  it 
— "  perfect  love  that  caste th  out  fear."  You  should  be  men 
of  the  deepest  humility — meek  and  lowly  in  heart,"  as 
Christ  was,  that  you  may  be  ensamples  to  (your  little) 
flocks."  You  should  be  men  of  extensive  knowledge  of  the 
Bible,  that  you  may  bring  out  of  this  treasury,  "  things 
new  and  old."    You  should  be  men  of  constant  prayer — 

24 


278  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


"praying  without  ceasing/'  You  should  be  men  deeply 
acquainted  with  spiritual  things — even  the  hidden  myste- 
ries of  godliness/'  And  what  shall  I  say  more  ?  And  how 
otherwise  can  you  be  useful,  unless  you  be  all  this,  or  ap- 
proximate to  this  ?    Let  us  see. 

If  you  are  indolent,  how  can  you  expect  others  to  be  in- 
dustrious ?  If  you  are  not  patient,  how  can  you  expect 
others  to  be  patient  ?  If  you  are  unstable,  how  can  you  ex- 
pect others  to  be  firm  ?  If  you  are  not  persevering,  how 
can  you  expect  others  to  persevere  ?  If  you  are  dull,  and 
cold,  and  indifferent,  how  can  you  expect  others  to  be  zeal- 
ous and  diligent  ?  If  you  are  remiss  and  irregular,  how  can 
you  expect  others  to  be  punctual  and  exact  ?  If  your  faith 
is  weak,  how  can  you  expect  others  to  have  strong  faith  ? 
If  your  love  is  feeble,  how  can  you  expect  others  to  have 
perfect  love  ?  If  you  are  proud,  how  can  you  expect  others 
to  be  humble  ?  If  you  know  but  little  of  the  Bible,  how 
can  you  instruct  others  in  its  truths  ?  If  you  pray  but  sel- 
dom, how  can  you  expect  or  encourage  others  to  pray  con- 
stantly ?  If  you  do  not  know  much  of  spiritual  things — if 
you  are  babes  in  Christ  when  you  ought  to  be  fathers — how 
can  you  expect  those  under  your  care  to  be  men  and  women 
in  Christ  Jesus  ? 

To  be  more  particular :  how  can  you  tell  what  is  the  mea- 
sure of  faith,  unless  you  know  what  is  the  measure  of  your 
own  faith  ?  If  you  have  not  victory  over  the  in-being  of 
sin  and  the  world,  how  can  you  earnestly  exhort  others  to 
seek  it  ?  If  you  know  not  what  degree  of  love  to  God  and 
his  children  you  have  in  your  own  heart,  how  can  you  know 
what  amount  others  have,  or  how  to  encourage  others  to  strive 
for  it  ?  If  your  communion  with  God  is  not  intimate  and 
uninterrupted,  what  little  interest  must  you  feel  for  others  in 
this  particular !  and  how  can  you  instruct  others  with  much 
effect  as  to  the  manner  of  obtaining,  retaining,  and  improving 
it  ?    If  you  have  not  the  assurance  of  present  acceptance, 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS. 


279 


and  the  concurring  witness  of  the  divine  Spirit  and  your  own, 
how  dark  must  be  the  great  subject  whenever  you  attempt 
to  explain  it  to  others  !  If  you  have  but  little  power  to  re- 
sist temptation,  how  can  you  encourage  others  to  do  it  ?  If 
you  know  but  little  of  Satan^s  devices,  and  so  often  fall  into 
them,  how  can  you  expose  them  to  others,  and  warn  others 
against  them  ?  If  you  have  not  the  power  to  control  your 
tempers,  how  can  you  direct  others  how  to  do  it  ?  If  you 
are  making  but  slow  progress  in  religious  enjoyment,  how 
can  you  feel  constrained  to  urge  others  to  advance,  or  teach 
them  how  to  advance  in  it  ?  If  you  have  travelled  but  a 
few  steps  beyond  the  gates  of  grace,  how  can  you  lead  others 
to  the  gates  of  glory  ?  How  can  you  be  teachers,  when  as 
yet  ye  need  that  one  teach  you  ?  How  can  you  lead  others 
to  perfection,  when  as  yet  ye  have  learned  little  more  than 
the  first  principles  ? 

Therefore,  "go  on  unto  perfection'^  yourselves.  "Desire 
spiritual  gifts.''  "  Even  so  ye,  forasmuch  as  ye  are  zealous 
of  spiritual  gifts,  seek  that  ye  may  excel  to  the  edifying  of 
the  church.'' 

4.  Your  work  requires  more  grace  than  the  work  of  ordi- 
nary Christians.  Your  temptations  are  greater,  for  Satan 
follows  you  more  closely  than  he  does  most  men,  and  his  de- 
vices will  be  more  subtle,  his  solicitations  more  urgent,  and  his 
attacks  more  violent  in  your  cases,  than  in  those  of  your 
classes,  that  he  may  smite  you  down,  and  scatter  your  little 
bands.  Hence,  you  will  sometimes  feel  the  strongest  in- 
clination to  indolence  and  neglect  of  your  duties,  and  if  you 
yield,  this  is  a  great  conquest  of  the  enemy )  and  when 
once  he  can  tempt  you  to  scandal  of  any  kind,  he  will  boast 
of  having  made  the  stewards  of  God's  house  unfaithful. 
And  the  eyes  of  the  world  are  more  steadily  and  keenly  set 
upon  you  than  upon  ordinary  Christians.  You  are  always  in 
the  open  light,  and  you  cannot  sin  without  being  observed. 
More  is  expected  of  you  than  of  most  men.    Your  very 


280  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


office  keeps  the  world  vigilant  and  curious.  The  ^^appear- 
ance of  evil''  in  you  will  be  confounded  with  real  evil; 
your  smallest  faults  be  aggravated  into  sins,  and  proclaimed 
as  sins ;  and  should  you  commit  any  sin,  quick  will  the  world 
be  to  reproach  you  and  the  church  to  the  utmost,  and  long 
will  it  be  reluctant  to  pardon  you — perhaps  never.  Indeed, 
sin  in  you  is  more  heinous  than  it  is  in  ordinary  Christians, 
because  you  sin  against  more  knowledge,  because  you  violate 
your  engagement  to  oppose  sin,  and  because  you  sin  upon 
higher  ground  than  ordinary  Christians  occupy.  And  you  are 
liable  to  greater  trials  and  hardships  than  ordinary  Christians, 
and  certainly  you  have  a  more  important  and  responsible 
work  to  perform  than  they.  These  things  prove  that  you 
require  more  grace  than  they.  Remember,  the  salvation  of 
souls,  and  the  honor  of  the  church  of  Christ,  are  now,  in  a 
very  high  degree,  confided  to  your  care;  and  your  own  salva- 
tion and  your  own  honor  depend,  to  a  great  extent,  upon 
your  success  or  failure.  Obtain  the  grace  of  God  to  help 
you,  or  you  cannot  discharge  the  duties  of  your  office  use- 
fully to  the  church,  nor  acceptably  to  God.  If  the  work  be 
above  your  gifts,  resign  it  at  once;  better  do  this  than  come 
off  finally  with  deeper  confusion  and  more  painful  regrets 
than  you  would  have  known  as  private  Christians.  Many 
private  Christians,  who  over-estimated  their  abilities,  have 
assumed  the  ministerial  office,  and  shortly  became  a  burden 
to  the  church,  because  they  were  unequal  to  the  responsibili- 
ties involved,  but  who,  while  they  were  in  private  life,  were 
useful  to  the  church  and  to  society.  And  so  you  may  have 
gifts  and  graces  for  a  quiet  and  retired  life,  but  not  sufficient 
for  the  responsible  office  which  you  fill.  And  it  may  be  ob- 
served just  here,  that  there  are  many  in  our  local  ministry 
who  were  very  zealous  and  efficient  class-leaders,  but  who, 
aspiring  to  a  higher  work,  for  which  they  were  unqualified, 
are  comparatively  lost  to  the  church ;  and  in  becoming 
preachers,  vacated  offices  which  it  has  been  difficult,  and,  in 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS. 


281 


many  cases,  impossible  to  supply.  This  is  one  reason  why, 
in  many  places,  there  is  so  great  want  of  good  class-leaders. 
The  good  class-leaders  and  exhorters  have  become  poor  and 
feeble  preachers,  local  and  itinerant;  and  at  this  very  time 
they  would  make  far  better  class-leaders  than  they  are 
preachers ;  and  it  were  wise  to  correct  the  existing  evil,  or, 
at  least  as  far  as  possible,  prevent  it  in  future.  But  let  not 
the  humble  and  faithful  class-leader  be  discouraged  by  this 
observation.  Gro  on;  you  have  the  promise  of  the  assistance 
and  blessing  of  God.  He  will  put  his  Spirit  upon  you,  and 
Satan  shall  fall  before  you  like  lightning  from  heaven.  Do 
these  things,  and  ye  shall  know  the  rest,  and  do  the  best. 


24* 


CHAPTER  V. 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS  CONTINUED. 

1.  The  mode  of  leading  class. 

(1.)  In  examining  the  class.  What  we  have  already  said 
at  length  on  the  duties  of  leaders  will  suggest  to  you  what 
method  you  should  pursue  in  examining  your  classes.  The 
duty  of  the  leader  in  this  respect  is  two-fold.  He  is  to  in- 
quire into  the  religious  experience  and  external  life  of 
every  member  of  his  class.  He  is  to  see  the  members  of 
his  class  once  a  week,  to  inquire  how  their  souls  prosper : 
let  each  leader  carefully  inquire  how  evevT/  soul  of  his  class 
prospers ;  not  only  how  each  person  observes  the  outward 
rules,  but  how  he  grows  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
God.^'*  This  is  not  to  be  done  in  general  terms.  The  re- 
ligious state  of  no  one  can  be  ascertained  definitely  in  this 
way;  and  the  leader,  ignorant  of  the  particular  state  of  the 
individual  members  of  his  class,  cannot  furnish  the  requisite 
aid  or  instruction  to  any,  nor  can  the  members  of  the  class 
be  a  mutual  help  in  intercourse  of  this  nature ;  and  the  class 
meeting  itself  thereby  must  become  uninteresting,  monoto- 
nous, tedious,  and  unprofitable,  and  so  shortly  be  abandoned. 
It  is  to  be  done  in  particular  terms.  This  is  indispensably 
important. 

(2.)  Let  each  member  of  the  class  relate  his  experience 
with  freedom  and  simplicity.  The  design  of  the  classes  is 
to  ascertain  the  spiritual  state  of  each  member,  in  order  that 


*  Discipline,  1854,  pp.  97,  98. 

282 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS. 


283 


religious  sympathy  may  be  excited,  mutual  regard  promoted, 
mutual  encouragement  obtained,  and  the  proper  instructions 
furnished ;  and  where  the  utmost  freedom  and  simplicity 
are  observed,  the  utility  of  the  class  meeting  surpasses  the 
power  of  language  to  describe  it.  But  where  the  people  are 
unwilling  to  unfold  the  true  state  of  their  mind,  and  they 
reply  either  negligently,  evasively,  or  not  at  all,  the  very 
design  of  the  regulation  is  subverted,  and  the  service  is  both 
tedious  and  unprofitable  j  this  method  will  break  down  the 
system  in  any  society.  We  should  always  give  a  plain  and 
honest  account  of  our  religious  states,  especially  when  the 
mind  is  dull  and  heavy,  or  our  evidence  is  doubtful,  or  our 
comforts  are  withdrawn,  and  we  are  not  making  that  ad- 
vancement which  we  should, — since  there  is  some  serious 
cause  for  all  this,  which  may  be  found  to  exist  in  the  indul- 
gence of  wicked  and  improper  tempers,  or  in  vain  and  wan- 
dering thoughts,  or  in  worldly  dispositions  and  conversation, 
or  in  neglect  of  some  religious  duty,  public  or  private ;  it 
may  be  of  the  class  meeting  itself,  or  in  unbelieving  anxie- 
ties or  reasonings ;  all  of  which  we  may  be  tempted  to  con- 
ceal, and  so  take  the  most  effectual  method  to  grieve  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  fall  into  the  devices  of  Satan.  An  ingenu- 
ous account  of  our  temptations  is  the  surest  way  to  sub- 
due them.  But  if  we  yield  to  the  suggestions  that  our 
distresses  are  the  most  deplorable,  that  our  sins  are  so  heinous 
that  they  ought  not  to  be  disclosed,  or  are  so  trivial  that 
they  need  not  be  confessed,  or  that  we  need  not  discover  the 
whole  of  our  depravity,  or  that  we  should  give  an  unfair 
and  partial  account  of  our  true  state,  lest  we  be  considered 
very  imperfect  Christians,  or  that  we  should  refrain  from 
speaking  freely  of  the  goodness  and  grace  of  God,  and  refer 
in  but  an  obscure  manner  to  whatever  in  us  is  disagreeable 
and  unfavorable,  or  beguile  ourselves  with  the  secret  forma- 
tion of  resolutions  to  do  better, — our  testimony  in  all  these 
cases  amounts  to  nothing  more  than  a  hurtful  illusion,  or 


284  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 

partial  hypocrisy,  and  an  evasion  of  our  duty  to  Grod,  his 
church,  and  ourselves.  And  worst  of  all,  probably,  is  the 
chilling,  sullen  silence  which  some  observe.  Thus,  we  hold 
but  a  partial  connection  with  the  blessed  community  of  God's 
people,  and  consequently  can  enjoy  but  a  small  amount  of 
profit  from  whatever  else  may  be  of  a  nominal  and  formal 
association.  Meantime,  we  do  not  pretend  that  private  and 
family  concerns  are  to  be  divulged,  or  when  tried  or  tempted 
in  delicate  circumstances  that  we  are  to  enter  into  particulars; 
common  prudence  and  discretion  will  dictate  what  should 
be  referred  to  in  general  terms,  what  in  particular  terms, 
what  should  not  be  referred  to  at  all,  and  what  should  be 
communicated  without  evasion  and  without  reserve.  You 
may  relate  the  precious  seasons  you  have  had  in  public  and 
private  devotion;  you  may  speak  in  a  meek  and  humble 
spirit  of  your  temptations,  and  trials,  and  faults,  and  fail- 
ures ;  you  may  refer  to  your  numerous  conflicts,  and  the 
manner  in  which  you  obtained  deliverance ;  you  may  refer 
to  the  peculiar  working  of  divine  grace  in  your  own  soul ; 
you  may  especially  confess  whether  you  are  declining,  or 
gratefully  declare  whether  you  are  advancing,  in  the  divine 
life. 

(3.)  Self-examination,  severe,  thorough,  impartial.  The 
class  meeting  will  be  productive  of  but  little  real,  lasting 
benefit  without  this.  Without  this  you  cannot  relate  the 
true  state  of  your  case,  and,  consequently,  cannot  obtain 
the  appropriate  instruction,  encouragement,  and  counsel; 
and  many  a  prayer,  and  song,  and  promise,  and  admonition, 
and  help,  in  some  form,  that  might  have  been  discovered 
most  easily  as  peculiarly  adapted  to  your  case,  must  pass 
without  meaning  and  without  use  to  you.  Self-examination 
will  suggest  the  very  things  that  should  be  made  the  sub- 
jects of  communication,  and  so  furnish  to  the  leader  a 
knowledge  of  your  case,  that  he  may  administer  the  proper 
relief  or  help.    Self-examination  will  inform  you  what  you 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS.  '  285 


have  been,  what  you  are,  and  what  you  should  be ;  and 
there  will  be  great  cause  for  gratitude ;  and  there  may  be 
great  cause  for  penitence  and  increased  faith,  and  redoub- 
ling of  diligence;  and  there  may  be  great  reason  for  en- 
couragement to  pursue  to  the  end  the  good  and  the  holy 
way.  There  will  be  no  danger  then  of  self-deception.  In 
the  clear  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  you  will  have  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  your  heart;  and  then  the  path  of  duty, 
privilege,  and  safety  will  be  plain  as  noon-day;  and. the 
very  sight  of  remaining  corruption  will  be  accompanied 
with  a  persuasive  knowledge  of  the  cleansing  blood  of 
Jesus,  and  the  freeness  and  fulness  of  the  mercy  of  God; 
the  remembrance  of  relapses  and  failures  will  be  attended 
with  stronger  resolutions  to  do  better  in  future;  and  the 
sense  of  a  general,  or  any  particular  weakness,  will  remind 
you  of  the  necessity  and  sufficiency  of  divine  grace.  An 
hour  of  faithful  self-examination  in  the  class-room  will 
prepare  you,  from  week  to  week,  for  the  returning  season 
of  class  meeting,  and  for  the  intervening  periods. 

(4.)  Prayer.  Prayer,  that  self-examination  may  be 
honest,  faithful,  complete.  Self-examination,  without 
prayer,  will  be  a  cold, -intellectual  exercise,  irksome,  disa- 
greeable, partial;  for  then  it  must  be  unaided  by  grace, 
and  much  of  the  in-being  of  sin  lie  concealed  in  its  own 
deceitfulness.  Prayer  seeks  the  penetrating  light  of  the 
Spirit,  which  reveals   the   exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin. 

Who  can  understand  his  errors  ?  cleanse  thou  me  from 
secret  faults,' '  is  the  very  language  suitable  to  the  service 
of  the  class-room;  and  he  "who  understands  the  secrets  of 
the  heart,''  will,  in  the  progress  of  devout  self-examination, 
not  only  reveal  clearly  all  that  is  sinful,  but  mercifully 
exercise  his  mighty  cleansing  power  in  a  most  sensible 
manner.  There  is  a  liberty,  a  simplicity,  and  a  power  in 
prayer  in  the  class-room  known  only  to  those  who  have 
prayed  there,  especially  to  those  who  are  in  the  habitual 


286  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


use  of  this  service.  We  know  there  we  are  with  the  pious 
and  prayerful;  that  we  have  met  for  the  same  object;  that 
we  are  a  mutual  help;  that  we  are  the  subjects  of  a  mutual 
confidence,  sympathy,  affection,  and  forbearance;  and  that 
the  very  essence  of  the  meeting  is  social.  With  what  ease 
and  delight  can  we  pray  when  we  know  others  are  praying 
for  us  I  Each  joins  in  the  prayer,  God  be  merciful  unto 
us,  and  bless  us,  and  cause  his  face  to  shine  upon  usf^  and 
Christ,  who  promised  to  be  where  two  or  three  are  met  in 
his  name,"  assures  each  of  his  interest  in  the  promise,  and 
so  one  helps  another  to  claim  the  blessing.  Prayer  in  the 
class-room  is  special,  and  is  concentrated  upon  some  present 
object,  and  this  explains,  in  some  degree,  its  power.  Often, 
though  the  believer  entered  the  class-room  in  a  dull,  heavy, 
and  doubtful  state,  after  a  few  moments  of  secret  and  hum- 
ble communion  with  God,  his  heart  is  inflamed  with  a 
renewed  zeal,  and  he  is  impatient  to  bear  witness  to  the 
goodness  of  God.  Many  a  time,  so  animating  is  the  sense 
of  God's  presence  in  answer  to  prayer  in  the  class-room, 
that  we  can  pray  most  earnestly  for  our  enemies  and  those 
who  persecute  us.  Many  a  time,  after  a  heart-searching 
self-examination,  so  earnest  and  importunate  is  the  spirit  of 
prayer,  that  the  Spirit  itself  "helps  our  infirmities  with 
groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered,"  and  the  heart  breaks 
forth  in  humble  confessions,  and  grateful  expressions,  and 
sobs,  and  songs  of  praise.  Many  a  time,  drawn  out  sweetly 
in  prayer,  in  the  profound  devotion  of  the  class-room,  the 
soul  acquires  such  a  calmness  and  composure,  as  raises  it 
above  the  fear  of  man  and  the  agitation ;  which  the  timid, 
imperfect  Christian  often  experiences,  subsides,  and  lan- 
guage is  uttered  as  in  the  divine  presence.  Many,  many  a 
time,  in  immediate  answer  to  prayer,  in  the  class-room,  so 
intensely  burns  the  heart  with  love  to  God  and  man,  that 
the  whole  class  is  quickened  by  the  subduing  and  stirring, 
testimony  given,  and  the  very  class-room  seems  to  be  a 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS. 


287 


mansion  of  glory,  or  a  tabernacle  erected  upon  Mount 
Tabor's  shining  heights.  By  prayer  we  obtain  new  bless- 
ings, and  so  are  enabled  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  the  same 
things  from  week  to  week,  and  to  drop  those  common-place 
terms,  and  the  style  and  manner  too  often  borrowed  from 
others,  and  which  indicate  a  slothful  and  lukewarm  spirit. 
Thus  from  week  to  week  your  experience  will  be  new, 
original,  and  always  interesting,  because  it  is  impossible 
God  should  forget  you  for  a  whole  week,  or  for  a  single 
moment;  and  in  time  you  will  become  pillars  and  leaders  in 
the  church  of  God  on  earth,  and,  finally,  exalted  saints  in  his 
church  in  heaven.  Prayer  prepares  the  man  of  business  for 
great  undertakings,  by  giving  an  earnestness  and  seriousness 
to  the  character,  by  repressing  the  spirit  of  levity  and 
frivolity  which  trifles  with  solemn  and  important  concerns ; 
by  supporting  and  restraining  in  the  hour  of  temptation;  by 
making  simple  faith  mightier  than  wisdom ;  by  exciting  a 
subdued  and  well-regulated  enthusiasm ;  by  inspiring  a  calm 
confidence  in  divine  providence  for  eventual  success;  by 
invoking  the  co-operation  of  the  favor  and  influence  of  the 
Most  High ;  by  associating  and  harmonizing  all  the  religious 
and  secular  duties  of  life:  and  so  from  the  class-room  he 
goes  forth  to  conceive  great  plans  and  do  great  deeds. 
Prayer  prepares  all  for  the  labors  and  allotments  of  divine 
Providence,  and  the  discharge  of  every  duty,  spiritual  and 
secular. 

(5.)  Singing.  The  meeting  usually  commences  with 
singing.  Few  devotional  exercises  more  powerfully  raise 
the  soul  to  God  than  singing.  When  the  language  of 
praise  is  poetical,  fluent,  intelligible,  and  the  sentiments 
expressed  are  pious  and  scriptural,  and  the  people  serious 
and  earnest,  and  the  music  solemn  and  appropriate,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  class  join  their  voices,  there  is  probably 
no  better  means  of  exciting  awful  and  tender  impressions 
of  God,  and  of  increasing  our  love  to  him  and  his  people. 


288  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


Methodist  hymns  and  music  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
exercises  of  the  classes.  For  all  states  and  conditions  of 
the  mind,  and  all  situations  in  life,~the  sinner's  sense  of  his 
own  corruption;  the  soul  panting  after  redemption  through 
the  blood  of  Christ;  the  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of 
God  in  creation;  the  love  of  Christ  in  redemption;  the 
efficacy  of  the  Spirit  in  cleansing  from  all  unrighteousness ; 
the  misery  of  the  wicked;  the  happiness  of  the  just; 
reverence;  praise;  gratitude;  exhortation;  advice;  in- 
struction ;  warning ;  consolation ;  patience ;  resignation ; 
doubts;  fears;  relapses; — in  short,  for  enforcing  piety  to 
God,  and  love  to  our  fellow-creatures,  appropriate  hymns  may 
be  found  in  our  collection;  and  so,  occasionally,  in  the 
progress  of  the  class  meeting,  some  verses  suitable  to  the 
experience  just  related  are  sung,  and  sometimes  only  a  single 
verse  is  sung,  by  which  often  devotion  is  strengthened,  con- 
fidence renewed,  and  the  heart  rekindled  with  holy  zeal. 
2.  Other  advices. 

Begin  the  meeting  at  the  proper  time.  If  but  two  or 
three  are  present,  begin.  This  will  soon  teach  the  members 
to  be  punctual.  Likewise  conclude  in  proper  time.  Send 
the  people  away  better  than  when  they  came,  with  their 
hearts  warm  with  gracious  feelings,  that  they  may  anticipate 
the  time  of  meeting  again.  If  the  meeting  be  protracted 
too  long,  many  inconveniences  will  follow :  mothers  will  be 
improperly  kept  from  their  children;  confusion  will  arise 
in  domestic  arrangements;  the  meeting  will  become  dull 
and  irksome;  much  of  the  spiritual  good  which  had  been 
received  will  be  lost;  formality  will  ensue;  and  many 
pressing  duties  may  be  neglected.  Be  short  and  animated 
in  speaking,  singing,  and  j)raying.  A  few  pointed  and 
appropriate  expressions  will  be  more  useful  than  a  long 
harangue  or  a  stormy  declamation,  because  most  easily 
remembered. 

Study  your  heart  and  experience,  as  well  as  obtain  a 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS. 


289 


knowledge  of  the  varieties  of  Christian  experience.  Your 
own  feelings  and  temptations  will  often  be  those  of  others ; 
and  where  yours  are  not  the  same  with  others,  you  may 
encourage  them  from  the  variety  of  experience  with  which 
your  knowledge  furnishes  you. 

Occasionally  take  your  class-paper  with  you  into  your 
closet,  and  pray  for  your  members  individually.  This  will 
greatly  endear  them  all  to  you;  for  we  cannot  pray  sin- 
cerely for  any  one  without  loving  him,  and  feeling  a  deep 
interest  in  his  spiritual  welfare;  and  God  will  bless  you, 
and  make  you  a  blessing  to  them.  Take  the  following  case 
of  Richard  Bealey,  a  class-leader  in  England,  as  given  in 
the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazine  :^  Deeply  conscious  of 
the  insufficiency  of  human  wisdom  and  ability  to  succeed  in 
the  office  he  had  undertaken,  without  the  influei^ce  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  Mr.  B.  earnestly  sought  help  from  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church  by  ardent  and  constant  prayers.  On 
the  evening  on  which  he  used  to  meet  his  class,  it  was  his 
custom  previously  to  spend  an  hour  in  retirement,  that  he 
might  have  opportunity  for  self-examination  and  interces- 
sion for  the  members.  Often  have  individuals  of  his 
family,  when  walking  in  the  garden,  unperceived  by  him, 
observed  him  on  his  knees  in  his  chamber  in  fervent  prayer, 
with  his  eyes  and  one  hand  lifted  up  to  heaven,  while  the  other 
held  the  list  of  those  for  whom  he  prayed.  From  papers  found 
since  his  disease,  written  in  short  hand  by  himself,  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  his  practice  to  record,  on  his  return  from 
class  meeting,  the  spiritual  state  of  the  different  members 
of  his  class,  that,  by  having  it  before  him  during  the  week, 
he  might  be  the  better  prepared  for  speaking  pointedly  and 
judiciously  to  each  member  at  the  succeeding  meeting. 
Occasionally,  also,  he  drew  out  in  writing  the  substance  of 
exhortations  on  general  subjects  of  religious  duty,  intended 


Third  Series,  vol.  i.  p.  150. 

25 


290  DUTIES  OP  PREACHERS;  LEADERS,  ETC. 


to  be  addressed  to  the  class  collectively.  Sometimes  he 
spent  a  great  part  of  the  night,  and  sometimes  the  whole  of 
it,  in  devotional  exercises,  and  particularly  in  prayer ;  when 
his  family,  the  members  of  his  class,  and  the  church  of 
God  were  presented  in  the  arms  of  faith  and  love  to  Him 
who  is  able  to  guide,  protect,  and  save.  He  conscientiously 
attended  to  the  rules  of  Methodism,  which  enjoined  him,  as 
a  leader,  ^  to  see  each  person  in  his  class  once  a  weeh  at 
least ;  and  to  advise,  reprove,  comfort,  or  exhort,  as  occasion 
might  require ;  and  to  meet  the  ministers  and  stewards  of 
the  society  once  a  weeh  f  and  sooner  than  miss  the  weeMy 
meeting  of  his  class,  or  his  regular  attendance  at  the 
leaders'  meeting,  he  would  quit  the  company  of  his  nearest 
friends,  suspend  (if  possible)  his  secular  business,  or  post- 
pone a  jojirney.  The  consequence  of  his  fidelity  and  zeal 
was,  as  might  be  expected,  the  prosperity  of  his  class,  the 
cordial  attachment  of  his  members,  and  a  general  and 
blessed  influence  upon  the  whole  society  in  the  village 
where  he  resided,  and  where  his  death  is  still  mourned,  and 
will  long  be  mourned,  as  an  irreparable  loss.'' 

Take  another  example — that  of  Father  Reeves,  thirty- 
four  years  a  class-leader  in  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Society, 
Lambeth.''  "  He  was  never  (or  only  once)  behind  time  at 
class,  or  public  worship.  Never  absent,  but  through  sickness 
or  distance.  He  never  let  a  Sunday  pass  without  inviting 
one  or  more  sinners  to  the  Saviour.  He  never  went  to  class 
without  earnest  preparation,  a  careful  selection  of  hymns. 
Scripture  references,  and,  apparently,  topics  for  prayer.  He 
never  permitted  absence  without  knowing  the  cause,  or  im- 
mediate visitation  to  ascertain  it.  He  never  omitted  to 
collect  moneys  in  his  classes,  whenever  they  met ;  and  he 
never  neglected  paying  the  amount  collected  to  the  stewards 
every  week.  He  never  forgot  the  poor  of  his  classes ;  but 
brought  his  list  of  the  necessitous  every  poor's  night.  To 
him  the  loss  of  members  was  a  source  of  humiliation — 


ADVICE  TO  LEADERS. 


291 


matter  of  self-abasement  in  his  classes.  The  prosperity  of 
Zion  was  his  chief  joy.  He  lived  in  the  spirit  of  his  cove- 
nant engagements  with  God,  being  ready  for  any  service, 
and  rejoicing  in  all;  but  never  neglecting  any  work  he  had 
undertaken.  His  Bible  was  his  teacher;  prayer  his  element, 
his  duty,  his  delight.  Consecrating  his  time,  his  soul,  his 
energies,  unremittingly,  unreservedly,  to  God  and  his  cause, 
no  wonder  he  was  blessed.  Would  it  not  be  well  if  all 
leaders  were  like  him  in  these  particulars  ?  If  all  were  like 
him  in  these  things,  should  we  not  have  a  holier,  happier, 
and  more  useful  church 


Father  Reeves,  (Meth.  Tract  Society,)  p.  159. 


CHAPTEH  VI. 


APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 

1.  To  those  who  are  in  the  wilful  and  repeated  neglect 
of  class.  Once  you  were  happy — alas,  how  cold,  and  dead, 
and  worldly,  and  miserable  now !  And  you  may  have  often 
inquired,  most  seriously,  Why  is  this  so  ?  It  is  a  matter  of 
experience,  no  doubt,  with  you,  that  when  you  were  most 
punctual  and  regular  in  observing  this  means  of  grace,  you 
enjoyed  most  of  the  grace  of  God.  And  the  answer  to  your 
inquiry  is,  you  have  neglected  to  meet  your  class,  which, 
as  you  believe,  and  we  have  shown,  is  connected  with  so 
many  and  so  great  advantages.  With  the  first  omission  of 
this  duty  commenced  your  spiritual  depression,  which  in- 
creased with  repeated  neglects,  till  you  are  now  the  subject 
of  the  most  painful  doubts,  and  fears,  and  self-rebuke.  You 
may  yet  pray  in  private,  but  with  no  life.  You  may  yet 
read  the  Bible,  but  with  no  comfort.  You  may  yet  habitu- 
ally observe  public  worship  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  with 
no  real  or  permanent  consolation  in  either  case.  You  may 
occasionally  join  in  the  prayer-meeting  and  the  love-feast, 
but  with  no  sensible  enjoyment.  You  may  converse  some- 
times on  religious  subjects,  but  with  no  real  spiritual  delight. 
In  temptation,  in  trial,  in  conflict  with  the  world,  in  afflic- 
tion, under  the  chastisements  of  divine  Providence,  your 
faith  is  weak,  or  fails  altogether ;  and  probably,  not  a  beam 
of  real  hope  struggles  through  the  appalling  gloom  that  en- 
velopes death  and  the  judgment.  Your's  is  a  sad  state,  truly. 
But  what  is  the  matter  ?  what  is  the  true  cause  of  all  this  ? 

292 


APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 


293 


In  a  word,  we  answer,  you  neglect  to  meet  your  class.  This 
explains  all.  You  lost  your  first  love'^  by  neglecting  this 
duty,  and  then  followed  the  long  train  of  other  delinquen- 
cies, with  their  accompanying  sorrowful  effects,  which  you 
now  experience.  But  relief  is  at  hand.  From  this  hour 
resolve  to  obtain  it.  Go  back  to  the  class.  Go  back  the 
next  time  your  class  meets.  If  your  class  never  meet  now, 
go  to  some  other  class  that  does  meet.  Go,  or  be  content  to 
live  and  die  as  you  are.  But  go,  and  never  neglect  class 
again  till  death,  unless  sickness,  distance,  or  some  insur- 
mountable difficulty  prevent  you. 

In  a  letter,  Mr.  Wesley  thus  writes  to  one  in  your  state : 
My  dear  sister  : — The  more  I  consider  your  case,  the 
more  I  am  convinced  that  you  are  in  the  school  of  God,  and 
that  the  Lord  loveth  whom  he  chtsteneth.  From  the  time 
you  omitted  meeting  your  class,  you  grieved  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God,  and  he  gave  a  commission  to  Satan  to  buffet  you : 
nor  will  that  commission  ever  be  revoked  till  you  begin  to 
meet  again.  In  the  name  of  God,  set  out  again,  and  do  the 
first  works  !  I  exhort  you  for  my  sake,  (who  tenderly  love 
you,)  for  God's  sake,  for  the  sake  of  your  own  soul,  begin 
again  without  delay.  The  day  after  you  receive  this,  go  and 
meet  a  class.  Sick  or  well,  go !  If  you  cannot  speak  a 
word,  go  !  and  God  will  go  with  you.  You  sink  under  the 
sin  of  omission  !  My  friend,  my  sister,  go  !  Go,  whether 
you  can  or  not.  Break  through.  Take  up  your  cross.  I 
say  again,  do  the  first  works,  and  God  will  restore  your  first 
love  !  and  you  will  be  a  comfort,  not  a  grief,  to 

Yours,  most  affectionately, 

November  4,  1790.  John  Wesley.^'* 


*  Wesley^s  Works,  vol.  vii.  p.  120.  This  letter  was  written  by  Mr. 
Wesley  a  little  more  than  three  months  before  his  death,  and  shows 
the  importance  which  this  venerable  founder  of  this  institution  attached 
to  it.    He  was  now  eighty-eight  years  of  age. 


V 


294  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 

There  is  one  class  of  those  who  are  in  the  habitual  and 
wilful  neglect  of  class,  to  whom  especially  we  appeal — we 
mean  the  ricli.  In  appealing  to  you,  we  would  not  have  you 
forget  that  you  are  rich,  but  we  would  have  you  to  be  alone, 
and  turn  over  and  read  carefully  the  following  pages,  in  the 
fear  of  God. 

You  may  have  been  converted  when  a  youth,  in  the  midst 
of  a  gracious  revival  in  your  own  native  town  or  village,  or 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  for  some  time  were  always  found 
at  the  class  meeting,  and  derived  from  it  great  advantages, 
and  zealously  observed  other  means  of  grace,  and  enjoyed 
much  religious  life  and  power.  In  the  quiet  period  of  youth 
you  encountered  comparatively  but  little  serious  temptation, 
and  you  gave  your  whole  time  and  strength  cheerfully  to 
the  services  of  your  religious  profession.  Soon  the  future 
loomed  up  brightly,  and  you  selected  some  worldly  business 
or  profession,  and  to  it  at  first  you  gave  its  due  proportion 
of  attention,  and  as  yet  you  were  safe  and  happy.  But 
presently,  having  commenced  the  career  of  life  at  the  right 
point,  and  in  the  right  manner,  facilities  of  successful  enter- 
prise surrounded  you,  hope  shone  still  more  brightly  on  the 
future,  and  by  your  own  unaided  energy,  or  the  promised 
assistance  of  friends,  you  resolved  to  make  a  fortune  from 
your  business,  or  acquire  fame  in  some  department  of  worldly 
ambition,  and  you  concentrated  your  energies  upon  the  ac- 
complishment of  your  plans.  Day  and  night  you  toiled  on, 
with  increasing  success,  and  with  success  excitement  in- 
creased, and  you  must  redouble  your  energies.  More  exten- 
sive plans  are  formed  as  your  means  and  knowledge  are 
enlarged,  and  more  time  and  care  are  now  demanded  to 
accomplish  these.  Your  thoughts,  your  reading,  your  con- 
versation, your  energies,  are  now  wholly  absorbed  in  worldly 
matters :  you  scarcely  allow  yourself  time  to  eat  or  sleep. 
Your  wealth  is  this  hour  increasing — it  may  be  great ;  your 
influence  among  men  is  increasing — it  may  be  extensive ; 


APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 


295 


your  learning  is  increasing — it  may  be  varied  and  profound ; 
and  you  have  now  neither  time  nor  disposition  for  any  thing 
else  but  how  your  wealthy  or  influence,  or  knowledge  may 
be  expanded  to  the  utmost  limits.  And  you  may  have 
married,  and  a  lovely  family  is  growing  up  around  you,  and 
home  may  be  happy,  and  the  family  must  be  permanently 
and  sufficiently  provided  for,  that  while  you  live,  and  after 
you  are  dead,  want  and  dependence,  to  them,  may  be  un- 
known. The  children  are  to  be  educated,  and  they  are  to 
be  settled  in  life  in  honorable  and  useful  pursuits.  The 
present  to  you  now  is  of  intense,  stirring,  incessant  interest 
and  incalculable  import.  True,  you  have  occasionally  many 
anxieties  and  painful  doubts  respecting  the  future,  but  they 
may  be  momentary ;  you  have  no  time  to  indulge  in  anxiety, 
or  yield  to  the  intrusion  of  fear.  And  sometimes  you  feel 
wearied  with  life  and  its  cares,  but  this,  too,  is  only  for  a 
moment ;  up,  up,  and  on  :  to  halt  now  is  to  lose  all  that  has 
been  gained.  And  sometimes,  in  calm  moments,  the  solemn 
inquiry  is  abruptly  excited.  Why  am  I  pursuing  the  world 
with  this  phrensy  ?  but  this  is  but  a  transient  interruption  : 
death  and  judgment  are  too  dreadfiil  and  agitating  to  admit 
of  a  prolonged  consideration.  And  sometimes  the  remem- 
brance of  innocent  boyhood,  and  youth,  and  early  manhood, 
is  revived  with  singular  vividness ;  but  this  is  banished  in  a 
moment,  for  it  is  painful  to  think  what  you  were  and  what 
you  are.  And  yet  sometimes,  when  you  dwell  upon  what 
you  are,  you  are  so  penetrated  with  your  reflections,  that  you 
shudder  at  the  sight  of  yourself.  And  what  are  you  now  ? 
I  will  tell  you  what  you  are.  You  are  a  nominal  Christian. 
You  are  a  worldly-minded  man.  You  are  a  formal  Method- 
ist— you  may  not  even  be  that.  Your  name  is  enrolled  still 
on  the  church-register,  where  it  was  when  you  were  a  boy, 
and  a  life  of  much  perplexity  and  fatigue  has  passed  since 
then.  You  are  an  experienced  man  of  the  world — cautious, 
shrewd,  sagacious,  honorable,  influential ;  but  you  are  almost 


296  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


unknown  as  a  Christian  in  the  church,  in  the  world,  and  at 
home.  You  may  be  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  or  on  the 
solitary  borders  of  old  age,  and  you  are  a  guide  to  others, 
with  none  to  guide  you,  and  the  excitement  of  other  days 
is  nearly  gone — ah !  you  are  alone  in  the  world.  Already 
you  feel  like  a  banished  man.  Death  is  before  you,  and 
judgment  beyond  that,  and  eternal  destruction  beyond  the 
judgment !  0  my  Grod,  is  this  the  youthful  convert  ?  Thou 
art  the  man  I  And  what  was  the  first  serious  step  that  led 
you  down  this  long  and  mournful  path  ?  We  confidently 
believe  it  was  the  first  time,  many  years  ago,  you  neglected 
to  meet  with  your  class,  and  which  you  repeated  till  neglect 
became  habitual,  and  insensibility  increased,  and  worldliness 
became  confirmed,  and  backsliding  in  heart  became  complete; 
and  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future  are  one  prolonged 
series  of  mournful  considerations,  unrelieved  by  scarcely  a 
ray  of  hope  or  comfort.  In  Grod's  name,  for  your  own  souFs 
sake,  rise  up  as  from  the  resurrection,  and  as  you  will  at 
the  resurrection,  never  to  sleep  again ;  and  go  this  hour,  if 
possible,  or  when  possible,  and  meet  with  your  brethren, 
the  people  of  God,  in  class  again,  and  do  the  first  works,^' 
and  recover  the  joy  and  the  life  of  thy  first  love,"  which 
you  knew  when  you  were  a  youthful  convert.  Hope  may 
yet  rise  in  the  sunset.  Gro  to  your  class.  A  sense  of  human 
frailty  is  daily  oppressive,  and  daily  increasing,  and  but  for 
the  ease  in  which  you  repose,  and  the  affluence  in  which 
you  revel,  it  would  immediately  ripen  into  an  intolerable 
agony  :  go  to  your  class.  You  might  be  happy,  and  a  thou- 
sand times  more  useful,  and  you  know  how  to  be  both  the 
one  and  the  other ;  and  yet  a  strange  stupor  debilitates  you, 
and  a  death-like  langour  is  settling  upon  you  :  rouse  up — go 
to  your  class.  You  cannot  live  much  longer,  and  you  never 
were  so  unprepared  for  death  as  you  now  are :  go  to  your 
class.  You  have  a  great  work  to  do,  and  a  short  time  to  do 
it  in,  and  what  is  to  be  done  must  be  done  quickly  :  go  to 


APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 


29T 


your  class.  Difficulties  have  had  a  charm  to  you,  and  many 
times  have  you  surmounted  them,  and  wealth  and  fame  have 
been  the  achievements ;  shrink  not,  pause  not,  nor  hesitate 
a  moment  now :  go  to  your  class.  And  many  times,  too, 
you  may  have  failed  in  the  accomplishment  of  favorite  plans, 
and  your  strong  will  may  have  staggered  on  the  eve  of  final 
failure,  but  you  resisted  the  tremendous  shock,  and  con- 
quered :  come,  go  to  your  class.  You  know  the  world,  and 
you  have  but  little  confidence  in  most  men,  and  there  are 
very  few,  if  any,  who  are  the  standard  of  what  you  desire 
to  be ;  and  the  longer  you  live,  the  farther  you  recede  from 
what  you  hope  to  be :  go  to  your  class.  You  have  seen 
much  sorrow,  which  time  only  has  soothed,  and  sustained 
many  losses,  which  time  only  has  repaired,  and  endured 
many  disappointments,  which  time  only  has  relieved,  and 
lost  many  friends,  which  time  can  never  restore  :  go  to  your 
class.  The  sunshine  of  youth  is  spent,  and  but  few  of  your 
generation  remain  on  earth ;  you  have  often  visited  the 
grave,  and  you  soon  must  follow  :  go  to  your  class.  A  long 
catalogue  of  neglects  and  sins  covers  the  pages  of  God^s 
book  of  remembrance,  and  your  name  to-night  may  be 
transferred  to  the  black  volume  of  death  :  go  to  your  class. 
Hell  itself  is  at  your  feet,  and  opens,  and  the  next  moment 
it  may  close  over  you  forever  :  go  to  your  class.  Go  :  'God 
calls — Christ  calls — the  Spirit  calls — the  church  calls — 
nature  calls — providence  calls — time  calls — heaven  calls — 
hell  calls — the  saved  call — the  damned  call — memory  calls 
— conscience  calls — fear  calls — death  calls — the  judgment 
calls.  Go !  Oh,  to  bo  miserable  the  rest  of  your  life,  when 
you  were  once  so  happy  !  to  be  miserable  any  longer,  when 
from  this  hour  you  may  be  happy  !  to  die  and  be  lost  at  last, 
and  forever,  when  you  may  yet  be  saved  forever  !  to  die  and 
perish  as  a  formalist,  a  wretched  backslider  in  heart,  when 
you  may  be  reclaimed,  renewed,  and  exult  in  the  life  and 
power  of  godliness  !   Better  had  you  died  the  day  you  were 


298  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


converted  in  your  youth ;  better  had  you  died  a  poor,  un- 
known, but  religious  man ;  better  had  you  not  been  born 
the  second  time ;  better  had  you  not  been  born  at  all !  And 
what  else  shall  I  add  ?  I  have  only  to  add,  Go  to  your 
class — go  to  your  class.  It  will  humble  your  pride — it  will 
show  you  your  heart — it  will  subdue  your  will — it  will  soothe 
your  conscience — it  will  calm  your  spirit — it  will  restore 
your  peace — it  will  revive  your  love — it  will  renew  your 
faith — it  will  rekindle  your  hope — it  will  reanimate  your 
zeal,  and  make  you  blessed,  and  a  blessing  to  others,  and 
an  honor  to  Christ  and  his  church,  and  you  shall  escape  the 
backslider's  and  the  rich  man's  hell,  and  enter  the  good 
man's  heaven. 

2.  To  those  who  occasionally  meet  with  their  class.  You 
may  be,  as  we  have  said  before,  in  constant  attendance  on  pub- 
lic worship,  and  regularly  observe  private  and  family  prayer, 
and  the  weekly  prayer-meeting;  you  may  observe  habitually 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  occasionally  fast ; 
you  may  sincerely  love  and  respect  religious  people,  and 
often  converse  with  them  seriously  on  religious  subjects; 
you  may  scrupulously  and  rigidly  watch  over  all  your  tem- 
pers, and  words,  and  actions ;  you  may  feel  a  sincere  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  defend  his 
cause,  and  his  people,  and  even  rejoice  in  the  success  of  his 
cause ;  you  may  give  your  money  and  influence  to  support 
his  church  and  ministry,  and  the  noble  enterprises  of  his 
church ;  you  may  cherish  the  tender  charities  and  sympa- 
thies of  a  benevolent  and  generous  nature,  and  assist  in  re- 
lieving the  wants  and  necessities  of  the  poor;  you  may  read 
the  Bible  daily,  with  meditation  and  prayer,  and  often  feel 
a  force  in  its  great  and  precious  truths  ;  you  may  occasion- 
ally and  in  the  proper  spirit  meet  with  your  class;  and 
in  all  these  indulge  the  hope  that  you  make  some  advances 
toward  holiness,  though  all  this  may  be  giving  you  credit 
for  more  than  you  deserve ;  but,  as  a  Methodist,  in  the  na- 


/ 


ADVICE  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS.  299 

ture  of  things,  without  a  faithful,  Jiahitual,  constant  observ- 
ance of  this  means  of  grace,  you  cannot  enjoy  a  solid  and 
abiding  hope  of  eternal  life ;  no  satisfactory,  scriptural  evi- 
dence of  acceptance  with  God ;  no  deep  and  lasting  commu- 
nion with  God;  no  sensibly  progressing  religious  life;  no 
enduring  sunshine  in  the  path  to  the  grave  and  the  judg- 
ment : — but  darkness  of  mind,  fear  of  death,  apprehension 
of  the  judgment,  and  dread  of  hell,  will  embarrass  and  perplex 
you  all  the  way ;  and  probably  at  last  you  will  die  amid 
the  most  painful  doubts,  and  bitter  regrets,  and  dismal  fore- 
bodings. This  is  enough  to  shake  your  inmost  soul;  and 
may  it  be  so  ! 

We  have  admitted  that  you  have  neglected  but  one  duty, 
and  that  but  occasionally.  And  we  have  have  assumed  that 
that  occasional  neglect  may  prove  finally  ruinous.  And  will 
you  run  the  hazard  of  being  lost  for  that  ?  To  you,  as  a 
Methodist,  certain  escape  lies  but  in  one  direction.  You 
may  be  lost  for  work  almost  done,  as  well  as  for  work  not 
done  at  all.  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter 
into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord,'^  is  the  seal  of  Christ,  and  the  call 
to  heaven.  Prepare  fully,  or  be  lost  eternally.  That  one 
duty  neglected,  how  it  troubles  you  !  And  why  does  it 
trouble  you  ?  Because  it  portends  a  lasting  trouble  in  the 
future  world.  That  one  duty  neglected,  and  how  it  chills 
and  debilitates  the  soul  in  the  performance  of  every  other 
duty  !  That  one  duty  neglected,  and  how  it  hangs  like  a 
millstone  about  your  neck,  and  bows  you  to  the  earth,  and 
prostrates  you  in  the  dust !  That  one  duty  neglected,  and 
ere  long  every  other  duty  may  be  neglected !  But  that  one 
duty  performed,  and  your  trouble  vanishes,  your  soul  is  in- 
vigorated, your  head  is  raised  from  the  dust,  you  rise  and 
run  for  life,  the  weight  is  off,  you  are  free ;  and  the  whole 
duty  done,  you  are  saved  !  Away,  then,  to  your  class,  when 
you  can  go,  every  time  it  meets.    What  now  is  occasionally 


300  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


done,  make  habitual,  and  never  neglect  again  till  you  ex- 
change worlds. 

3.  To  the  formalist  and  backslidden  in  heart.  Yours  is  a 
sad  case.  Your  peace  is  invaded  by  convictions,  harassed 
by  conscience,  and  disturbed  by  visitings  from  the  realms 
of  death,  and  the  judgment  to  come,  from  which  you  in  vain 
seek  exemption  in  the  cold  and  cheerless  monotony  of  formal 
observances.  Your  disinclination  to  spiritual  things  is  daily 
becoming  more  positive;  carelessness  is  changing  into  aliena- 
tion, aversion,  hostility  to  the  inner  life  of  godliness;  the  re- 
monstrances of  conscience  are  soothed  and  frustrated  by  the 
easy  confidence  that  all  will  end  well  at  last ;  the  powerful  ad- 
monitions of  the  pulpit,  which  almost  freeze  the  animation 
of  the  ungodly,  are  interpreted  as  wholly  inapplicable  to  you ; 
the  seeds  of  life  are  falling  into  young  and  tender  hearts 
around  you,  but  the  seeds  of  death  have  already  covered 
your  past  life  with  noxious  growth,  which  are  now  extending 
their  roots  forward  to  overspread  thickly  all  the  space  be- 
yond, entwining  themselves  with  a  strange  tenacity  around 
every  power  of  your  being,  and  exhausting  daily  the  little 
vitality  that  remains ;  the  very  habits  that  you  are  forming 
are  growing  into  a  decided  character,  which  in  the  end  is  to 
become  an  inexorable  tyrant;  and  the  very  destiny  which  you 
hope  to  escape  you  are  rendering  infallibly  certain.  You 
are  inert  and  buried  under  a  burden  of  ceremonies,  and  tor- 
pid and  reposing  under  an  accumulation  of  responsibilities, 
almost  incapable  of  being  quickened  into  any  spiritual  ger- 
mination ;  and  yet  presuming  you  shall  force  out  some  re- 
served expedient,  before  long  neglect  shall  be  fatal;  that 
from  the  inveterate  habits  of  a  lifeless  formality,  by  a  mighty 
violence,  you  shall  yet  emancipate  yourself,  and  then  as  sys- 
tematically and  piously  prepare  to  die  as  you  should  have 
prepared  to  live.  This  lying  spirit,  formality,  this  fatal  be- 
trayer, will  as  certainly  desert  you  in  the  final  and  decisive 
hour,  when  it  shall  have  drawn  you  to  the  precipice,  as  the 


ADVICE  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 


801 


most  notorious  life  of  profligacy  and  profanity.  In  the 
sight,  and  in  contempt  of  the  certain  consequences,  you  go 
to  the  precipice.  With  the  oracles,  lights,  ceremonies,  and 
privileges  of  the  church,  you  go.  And  you  cannot  go  much 
farther  before  you  reach  the  end. 

You  often  complain  of  languor  and  deadness  in  the  church, 
of  the  want  of  revival,  and  the  want  of  spirituality  and  zeal 
in  the  ministry.  But  the  explanation  is  easy.  What  are 
your  amusements,  and  pleasures,  and  daily  life  ?  Do  you 
pursue  such  only  as  are  for  "  the  glory  of  God,^'  and  that 
tend  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God  For  instance, 
are  you  not  passionately  fond  of  such  amusements  as  hack- 
gammon^  chess,  and  even  an  innocent  game  at  cards  ? 
And  you  may  find  examples  even  in  those  professing  to  be 
ministers  of  Christ — we  hope  not  in  our  church ! — and  it  is  a 
shame  and  a  reproach  to  any  church  which  they  serve,  and 
a  scandal  to  the  gospel  of  Christ  which  they  pretend  to 
preach.  And  you  say,  there  is  no  harm  in  this  or  that 
amusement.^'  To  cut  the  matter  short,  do  they  tend  to 
the  knowledge  and  love  of  God  ?  Do  they  increase  your 
knowledge  and  love  of  spiritual  things  ?  What  is  the  spirit 
of  these  amusements  ?  that  is  the  question.  Is  it  easy  and 
agreeable  to  go  from  the  chess-board  to  the  sacramental 
table  ?  or  from  the  sacramental  table  to  the  chess-board  ?  or 
from  the  backgammon-box  to  the  closet  of  prayer  ?  or  to 
the  altar  in  a  revival,  and  engage  in  its  holy  pleasures  and 
labors  ?  or  to  devout  and  pleasant  perusal  of  the  Bible  ?  or 
can  you  converse  with  your  competitor,  at  the  close  of  the 
game,  about  his  soul's  salvation,  and  the  great  and  awful 
interests  of  eternity  ?  or  could  you  meet  death  in  the  game 
with  composure?  or  the  announcement  of  judgment?  or  the 
call  to  heaven?  No,  no!  How  then  can  you  enjoy  the  class 
meeting,  or  any  other  means  of  grace  ?  Probably  you  ne- 
glect them  all,  except  those  of  a  public  character.  You  need 
not  wonder  that  you  are  so  languid  and  dead.    You  need 

26 


302  DUTIES  OP  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


not  wonder  that  you  have  no  revival ;  you  are  in  the  way 
of  sinners  yourself.  You  need  not  wonder  that  you  are  so 
destitute  of  spirituality;  you  have  pursued  the  very  methods 
that  have  destroyed  your  knowledge  and  love  of  God.^' 
And  the  end  is  eternal  death :  There  is  a  way  which 
seemeth  right  unto  a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  are  the  ways 
of  death.'' 

0  ye  dead-hearted,  formal,  and  backslidden  professors !  af 
the  very  time  you  should  be  weeping  and  repenting  in  the 
class-room,  you  may  be  earnestly  engaged  in  worldly  amuse- 
ments, or  intensely  absorbed  in  worldly  business,  or  seduously 
employed  in  making  or  receiving  fashonable  visits.  And 
you  think  you  are  approaching  the  end  of  the  path  of  sal- 
vation, when  you  have  lost  the  beginning ;  that  you  are  in 
motion  toward  heaven,  when  you  have  receded  immeasura- 
bly the  other  way;  that  you  are  allured  onward  by  the 
charms  of  the  gospel,  when  you  are  following  the  incanta- 
tions of  the  semblance  of  piety;  that  you  are  doing  much 
for  Christ,  and  are  an  honor  to  his  church,  when  you  are 
doing  every  thing  for  yourselves,  your  own  honor,  your  own 
interest,  and  you  see  not  the  subtility  of  the  deception;  that 
you  are  not  wronging  Christ,  when  you  are  invading  his 
dearest  rights ;  that  you  are  giving  every  thing  to  Christ, 
when  he  bestows  nothing  upon  you ;  that  you  are  rich  in 
good  works,  when  you  are  poor  and  beggarly  in  heart;  that 
you  are  righteous  in  life-,  when  you  have  no  righteousness  at 
all ;  that  you  depend  solely  upon  the  free  grace  of  Grod, 
when  you  have  lost  all  you  ever  had,  and  have  none  remain- 
ing; that  you  are  obeying  the  will  of  God  as  faithfully  as 
you  can,  when  you  are  obeying  your  own  as  well  as  you  can; 
that  the  image  of  Christ  is  on  your  hearts,  when  it  is  only 
the  dead  image  of  fancy  and  presumption ;  that  you  enjoy 
the  precious  fruits  of  the  merit  of  his  death,  when  you  have 
applied  to  yourselves  the  merits  of  your  own  cold  and  for- 
mal services;  that  you  honestly  confess  your  sins  in  the  use* 


ADVICE  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 


303 


of  the  means  of  grace,  when  you  conceal,  palliate,  and  de- 
fend them ;  that  you  depend  fully  upon  the  promises  of  the 
gospel,  when  you  are  exposed  wholly  to  the  threatenings  of 
the  law ;  that  you  have  accepted  the  blessings-  of  the  ever- 
lasting covenant,  when  you  have  rejected  the  mercies  of  the 
Father,  the  merits  of  the  Son,  and  the  aids  of  the  Spirit ; 
that  nothing  is  wanting  to  complete  your  salvation  but  dying 
grace,  when  nothing  is  remaining  to  finish  your  destruction 
but  the  dying  breath ;  that  you  are  the  hopeful  heirs  to  ^^an 
inheritance  incorruptible,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,"  when 
you  are  the  promising  candidates  for  the  tribulation,  and 
anguish,  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men."  Ye  formal  pro- 
fessors I  ye  backslidden  in  heart !  ye  have  done  more  to  chill 
and  kill  the  spirituality  of  Christ's  church  than  all  the  op- 
position of  men  and  devils.  Ye  have  done  more  to  consume 
the  spiritual  edifice  of  God  than  all  the  fires  of  persecution 
that  were  ever  kindled  up  in  the  world.  Ye  have  done 
more  to  diminish  and  exhaust  the  energies  of  the  church 
than  all  the  heresies  of  past  ages.  Ye  have  done  more  to 
corrupt  the  simplicity  of  divine  worship,  and  degrade  the 
means  of  grace,  than  all  the  apostasies  from  the  faith.  Ye 
have  done  more,  by  your  heartless  and  fruitless  observance 
of  the  means  of  grace,  to  lead  true  believers  from  their  use, 
than  all  the  backslidings  from  the  days  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles.  Your  very  presence  is  the  contagion  of  the 
second  death,  infecting  the  pure  atmosphere  of  the  church 
with  a  mortal  disease,  that  spreads  with  inconceivable  ra- 
pidity in  every  direction  around  you,  from  which  none  can 
escape,  but  those  who,  sensible  of  their  danger,  and  resolved 
to  heed  the  apostle's  warning,  ^^turn  away"  from  you. 
May  Almighty  God  heal  and  revive  you,  that  you  may  be 
saved,  and  that  multitudes  of  weak  believers  may  no  more 
be  deceived  by  the  semblance  till  they  reject  and  contemn 
the  real !  May  the  Spirit  come  from  the  four  winds  and 
breathe  upon  the  dead,  ^^dry  bones"  of  Israel,  that  they 


804  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


may  live,  and  rise  up  a  mighty  army  in  all  tlie  land !  0  ye 
formalists !  ye  backslidden  in  heart !  if  ye  have  only  strength 
enough  remaining  to  totter  to  the  class-rooms,  go  thither, 
for  there  thd'  warm,  recuscitating  breath  of  the  Spirit  will  be 
breathed  on  you,  and  there  only :  for  till  then  all  your  spiritual 
animation  will  be  but  the  flashes  of  a  spasmodic  and  transi- 
tory quickening ;  the  feeble  quiverings  of  expiring  life ;  the 
death-throes  of  the  soul  in  its  struggles  to  breathe  and  live. 
True,  no  one  in  the  church  of  God  dreads  the  searching  ex- 
amination of  the  class-room  more  than  you  do ;  not  one  is 
more  unprepared  for  it  than  you  are.  But  no  matter;  make 
the  best  of  the  worst  case ;  take  it  as  it  is  to  the  sympathies 
and  helps  of  your  brethren.  Confess  all,  and  it  will  be  a 
warning  to  others.  Know  the  power  of  the  form.  And 
henceforth  may  you  be  found  always  among  the  humblest 
and  happiest  in  the  class-room,  that  you  may  be  among  the 
most  pious  and  zealous  elsewhere.  My  dear  brethren,  begin 
from  this  hour. 

4.  To  men  of  business  who  are  members  of  the  church. 
You  urge  the  pressing  demands  of  your  business  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  occasional  or  entire  neglect  of  your  solemn  obli- 
gation to  meet  with  your  class.  If  there  is  one  class  of 
Christians  belonging  to  the  Methodist  Church  who  deserve 
the  sympathies  and  forbearance  of  the  ministry  and  mem- 
bership, you  belong  to  that  class,  and  we  will  give  your 
case  a  fair  and  patient  consideration. 

It  is  true,  in  order  to  carry  on  an  extensive  business  suc- 
cessfully, powers  of  thought,  a  well-disciplined  mind,  capa- 
bilities of  endurance,  and  a  vigorous  and  well-regulated  con- 
stitution, are  required;  that  it  is  a  life-time  torment,''  for 
which  there  is  hardly  any  relief ;  as  he  who  changes  his 
business  seldom  succeeds ;  and  that  it  is  the  "  death  por- 
tion'' to  many.  It  is  true,  that  it  requires  the  exercise  of 
honesty,  industry,  frugality,  justice,  generosity,  charity, 
forethought,  and  self-sacrifice,  in  all  its  progress.    It  is  true. 


APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 


305 


that  it^romotes  the  happiness  of  man  by  contributing  to 
the  support  of  good  laws,  to  the  duration  of  life,  to  the 
mitigation  of  pain,  to  the  facilities  of  commerce,  locomotion, 
and  enterprise,  to  the  comforts  and  convenience  of  life,  and, 
when  properly  managed,  to  the  means  of  advancing  the 
kingdom  of  Grod  among  men.  It  is  true,  that  an  energetic 
devotion  to  business,  in  its  time  and  place,  is  not  incompati-  ^ 
ble  with  a  high  degree  of  moral  and  religious  culture.  It 
is  true,  that  business  men  should  learn  how  to  get,  save, 
spend,  give,  take,  lend,  borrow,  and  bequeath  money  in  the 
right  and  best  manner.  It  is  true,  great  success  in  business 
cannot  be  accomplished  without  intense  thought  and  om- 
nipotent resolution — thought  in  devising  the  means,  and 
'  resolution  in  applying  the  means;  onicard  is  the  word; 
and  there  is  no  limit  to  advancement :  the  old  philosopher's 
motto,  ^^Higlier,  forever  highevj^  is  your  own,  and  there  is 
no  limit  to  the  ascent — resolution,  burning  like  fire  within 
you,  ever  removing  difficulties,  searching  out  and  making 
means,  encouraging  you  in  despondency,  upholding  you  in 
weakness,  and  supporting  you  amid  the  rude  jostlings  of 
the  world.  Yours  is  a  life  of  action,  as  well  as  study  and 
resolution.  In  the  counting-house  you  have  learned  order, 
system,  management,  the  practical  value  of  book-keeping, 
and  how  to  increase  your  interest  and  success  in  business. 
You  have  cultivated  your  senses — disciplined  your  mind — 
regulated  your  health — observed  keenly — sought  and  seized 
hold  of  every  valuable  fact — conceived,  resolved,  and  exe- 
cuted with  the  rapidity  of  lightning,  and  with  the  precision 
of  demonstration — merged  the  charm  of  the  end  in  the 
intensiti/  with  which  you  applied  the  means ;  and  your  tri- 
umph has  been  proportionate  to  the  difficulties  you  have 
overcome.  You  have  formed  and  confirmed  the  habits  of 
business — namely,  industry,  arrangement,  calculation,  pru- 
dence, punctuality,  and  perseverance — it  may  be,  all  in  equal  { 
degree,  and  kept  in  constant  exercise,  and  constituting  your 

26*- 


i 


306  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


superior  ability  for  the  enterprises  of  business.  You  appor- 
tion your  time  to  duties,  and  keep  an  exact  register  of  all 
your  transactions ;  you  have  work  for  every  man,  a  place 
for  every  paper,  and  a  time  for  every  settlement ;  and,  if 
you  should  die  to-night,  every  thing  is  probably  so  arranged 
that  all  your  affairs  would  be  understood  in  the  morning. 
You  calculate,  without  slate  and  pencil,  and  without  the 
slightest  pause,  where  most  men  pause  long,  and  sometimes 
cannot  make  the  proper  estimate  at  all  without  pen  and 
paper.  You  are  prudent  in  disposing  your  words  and 
actions  in  their  due  place,  time,  and  manner;  in  concealing 
your  intentions ;  in  withholding  confidence  from  entire 
strangers ;  in  doing  nothing  in  certain  disagreeable  cases ; 
in  stopping  for  light  in  doubtful  cases  ;  in  escaping  difficul- 
ties ;  in  repairing  failures ;  in  forming  new  plans  and  new 
partnerships;  in  the  outlay  of  means;  in  borrowing;  in 
lending;  in  giving;  in  advising;  in  almost  every  thing 
connected  with  your  business.  You  are  punctual  in  meet- 
ing your  engagements,  whether  for  the  payment  of  money 
or  the  performance  of  work ;  in  removing  trouble  and  un- 
easiness from  the  minds  of  creditors,  by  timely  notice,  when 
you  are  unable  to  meet  your  previous  engagements,  which 
sometimes  happens;  in  observing  times  appointed  for  the 
transaction  of  business;  in  assisting  your  friends  in  times 
of  urgent  need :  in  a  word,  in  the  discharge  of  every  obli- 
gation and  fulfilment  of  every  promise.  You  are  persever- 
ing in  the  accumulation  of  means;  in  the  formation  and 
execution  of  your  plans;  in  contending  with  misfortunes 
and  failures ;  in  overcoming  discouragements ;  in  surmount- 
ing difficulties  whicb  daunt  weaker  spirits  ;  in  prosecuting 
new  schemes,  however  arduous  and  unpromising  at  first ;  in 
maintaining  your  integrity  amid  temptations  the  most  fa- 
vorable; in  subduing  opposition  the  most  formidable;  in 
applying  right  principles  with  changing  times  and  circum" 
stances ;  in  ascending  to  affluence,  eminence,  and  independ- 


APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS 


807 


ence;  and  in  accomplishing  the  utmost  extent  of  your 
hopes. 

In  getting  money,  you  keep  your  word,  perform  your 
promises,  and  execute  your  contracts, — deeming  what  is 
justly  implied  or  expected  on  either  side  as  a  part  of  the 
contract;  disclosing  to  the  buyer  the  faults  of  what  he 
wants  to  buy ;  betraying  no  confidence  reposed  in  you  by 
others ;  taking  no  advantage  of  the  ignorance  or  unskilful- 
ness  of  others,  or  of  the  technicalities  of  the  law,  to  impose 
upon  them;  making  sacrifices,  if  required,  to  pay  your 
debts  promptly;  not  undervaluing  the  reputation  of  your 
rivals  in  business ;  nor  raising  the  market-price  on  another 
buyer;  nor  selling  below  the  market-price  to  gain  your 
rival's  customers;  not  unmindful  of  favors;  frowning  down 
all  tricks,  all  cunning,  all  winding  and  crooked  courses,  all 
corruption,  all  abuses  of  trusts  and  credit ;  and  ready  to 
say,  if  bankruptcy  should  come,    All  is  lost  but  honor/' 

You  buy  and  sell,  and  sell  to  buy  and  sell  the  more ;  efi'ect- 
ing  your  exchanges  as  directly,  and  simply,  and  cheaply  as 
possible;  abandoning,  it  may  be,  the  old  basis  of  small 
sales  and  large  profits  for  large  sales  and  small  profits ;  sup- 
plying the  public  demand  on  as  favorable  terms  as  any  one 
can  offer ;  assuring  the  public  that  you  can  and  will  do  this ; 
having  learned  the  science  of  trade  by  study,  and  acquired 
the  art  by  practice ;  understanding  the  beautiful  system  of 
book-keeping  by  double  entry ;  conducting  business  corre- 
spondence in  a  plain,  clear,  concise  style ;  frequently  able 
to  tell  what  has  been  from  what  is,  and  from  what  is  what 
must  be  in  trade ;  comprehending  its  remote  as  well  as  im- 
mediate connections ;  exercising  a  sound  judgment  of  the 
value  of  goods,  knowing  where  they  are  manufactured,  what 
are  the  manufacturer's  prices,  what  the  best  markets  to  buy 
and  sell  in,  and  what  the  rate  of  duties ;  understanding  so 
well  the  condition  and  prospects  of  your  business  in  all  its 
relations,  and  so  adapting  your  liabilities  to  your  capital  as 


308  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


to  be  guarded  against  fluctuations  in  prices  and  the  panics 
of  the  times ;  scrupulously  keeping  your  expenses  within  a 
reasonable  limit,  and  maintaining  constantly  an  exact  har- 
mony between  the  outgoes  and  incomes ;  calculating  upon 
the  absolute  demand  and  surplus  of  goods  in  market,  so  as 
to  make  the  wisest  and  surest  investments — tracing,  through 
the  resources  of  the  producers,  the  manufacturer's  orders, 
and  the  domestic  and  importing  revenues,  the  amount  of 
goods  coming  forward;  anticipating  and  providing  against 
excessive  competition ;  having  probably  a  reserved  capital, 
such  as  stocks,  merchandise,  notes,  bills  of  exchange,  &c., 
that  is  easily  convertible  into  money  as  the  exigencies  of 
trade  may  require  3  displaying  admirable  order  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  goods,  every  department  alphabetically  ar- 
ranged, the  shelves  and  rows  of  goods  all  numbered,  and 
each  clerk  apportioned  an  appropriate  work;  employing  the 
most  honorable  methods  of  making  money — not  asserting 
that  you  have  sold  the  same  kind  of  goods  to  another  at 
much  higher  prices  than  you  are  now  asking — nor  that 
your  goods  cost  you  more  than  you  are  asking — nor  passing- 
off  stale  goods  as  new  styles  just  brought  out — nor  affirming 
that  another  is  underselling  you,  and  must  soon  break  down 
— nor  telling  romances  about  the  cost,  the  colors,  the  quality 
of  the  goods  when  displaying  them  to  a  customer — nor  dis- 
paraging the  goods  of  others  in  such  language  as  the  fol- 
lowing :  not  the  same  goods  at  all,  theirs  are  steam  colors, 
quite  an  imitation  article,  and  not  so  wide  as  this  using 
the  wisest  and  most  honorable  methods  to  obtain  customers, 
by  extensively  advertising,  to  let  every  family  in  the  coun- 
try know  what  you  are  selling,  and  on  what  conditions ;  not 
confining  your  advertising  to  the  journals  of  your  own 
creed  or  party,  nor  announcing  your  merchandise  in  dog- 
gerel or  second-hand  jokes,  but  soberly,  with  directness  and 
decision,  and  in  the  fewest  words — by  politeness,  not  think- 
ing yourself  too  busy  when  there  is  no  prospect  of  gain,  but 


APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 


309 


answering  inquiries  with  a  manifest  good-will  and  to  tlie 
best  of  your  ability ;  making  a  stranger  your  friend,  tliongb. 
you  were  unable  to  sell  him  the  article  he  wished,  directing 
him  where  it  might  be  purchased,  and  who  subsequently 
becomes  to  you  a  constant  customer ;  neither  harsh  nor 
rigorous  to  your  customers,  but  courteous,  affable,  and  for- 
bearing ;  not  counterfeiting  politeness  by  foppery,  prudery, 
pomp,  or  affectation,  but  natural,  sincere,  civil,  and  so 
adapted  as  to  engage  and  please  all.  And  your  objects  may 
be  good  :  not  to  enrich  yourself  at  the  expense  of  the  moral, 
social,  and  pecuniary  welfare  of  the  community,  as  in  the 
sale  of  alcoholic  beverages,  implements  of  gaming,  &c.,  but 
to  serve  God  and  bless  mankind ;  to  erect  barriers  to  the 
spread  of  vice ;  to  encourage  agricultural  and  mechanical 
improvement;  to  advance  the  cause  of  education,  refine- 
ment, and  correct  taste;  to  diffuse  abroad  the  principles 
and  benefits  of  philanthropy,  patriotism,  social  order,  and 
religion ;  to  instruct,  ennoble,  dignify,  and  improve  the 
community  in  which  you  live ;  to  patronize  useful  inven- 
tions and  discoveries  so  far  as  your  position  and  means  will 
permit;  to  foster  the  publication  and  circulation  of  useful 
literature ;  to  encourage  the  useful  and  benevolent  societies 
of  the  times — such  as  temperance,  agricultural,  and  mecha- 
nics' associations  ;  to  support  the  church  in  all  its  interests 
and  enterprises  ;  to  live  worthily  and  usefully,  and  transmit 
an  honored  name  to  your  children. 

Are  you  a  farmer  ? — you  are  a  man  of  enterprise,  energy, 
and  success,  performing  every  operation  at  the  very  best 
season  for  product  and  economy,  and  making  purchases,  when 
necessary,  at  the  most  advantageous  rate ;  keeping  all  your 
buildings  and  fences  as  they  should  be ;  making  the  neces- 
sary improvements,  and  expending  the  necessary  means  for 
them ;  keeping  your  implements  in  proper  order,  and  in 
their  proper  places ;  ploughing,  harrowing,  seeding,  culti- 
vating, harvesting,  in  the  right  manner,  and  at  the  right 


810  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


time ;  properly  disposing  your  different  fields,  for  economy 
in  fencing,  for  convenience  of  access,  and  for  a  full  command 
of  pasture,  and  protection  of  the  crops  at  all  times ;  wisely 
cutting  drains  for  improving  fields  that  are  wet,  and  irrigat- 
ing those  that  are  dry,  and  furnishing  convenience  for 
watering  the  cattle ;  making  roads  at  the  proper  places,  and 
in  the  proper  manner ;  furnishing  every  field  on  the  farm 
with  self-shutting  and  self- fastening  gates ;  in  the  choice  of 
implements,  procuring  the  very  best  kind ;  in  the  choice  of 
live-stock,  purchasing  the  very  best  sort,  though  they  cost 
a  little  more  than  others ;  observing  a  wise  rotation  of  crops ; 
and  thus,  with  reason,  intelligence,  industry,  order,  energy, 
and  economy,  guiding  in  all  your  operations ;  with  clean, 
rich  fields,  verdant  pastures,  and  waving  meadows,  and  fine 
cattle,  and  golden  harvests,  success  and  plenty  crown  your 
labors,  and  waste,  extravagance,  debts,  and  duns  find  no  place 
within  your  happy  threshold. 

What  we  have  said  is  the  best  that  can  be  said  for  men 
of  business,  especially  merchants ;  and  after  all  this  you  may 
fail  in  business.  Bankruptcy  with  merchants  is  almost  as 
universal  as  death.  Vicissitudes  in  trade  are  as  variable  as 
the  winds.  You  may  be  indulging  the  hope  of  future  re- 
tirement from  the  harassing  pursuits  of  active  business  into 
the  country,  to  spend  the  calm  evening  of  life  on  a  farm,  in 
the  full  enjoyment  of  rural  pleasures,  and  refreshing  exer- 
cises, and  delightful  recreations,  and  privileged  hours  of 
reflection  and  independence.  And  you  may  be  disappointed; 
you  may  die  a  bankrupt.  It  has  been  the  observation  of 
practical  men,  that  from  three  to  Jive  in  one  hundred  mer- 
chants in  all  our  largest  cities  do  not  fail,  and  die  destitute  of 
property;  and  that  over  ninety  per  cent,  of  all  estates  settled 
are  insolvent.  Your  ardent  desire  of  sudden  acquisition, 
your  golden  visions  of  easily-acquired  afiluence,  your  flatter- 
ing and  enchanting  prospects  of  ultimate  and  complete  suc- 
cess, may  all  soon  vanish  as  your  vessel  is  drawn  within  the 


APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 


311 


maelstrom,  or  stranded  upon  the  rock,  in  the  troubled  sea 
of  mercantile  speculation.  Death  shots  have  already  fallen 
thick  and  fast"  around  you,  and  the  wreck  of  many  a  goodly 
bark  even  now  floats  against  the  sides  of  your  own.  Wealthy 
houses  have  fallen  single  and  alone/'  and  splendid  families 
have  been  reduced  to  beggary.  You  hope  to  escape.  How  ? 
By  pursuing  a  steady,  prudent  course ;  by  closing  your  eyes 
to  attractive  appearances ;  by  applying  plain  and  well-esta- 
blished maxims  of  common  caution  and  improved  experience; 
by  not  trading  beyond  your  capital  and  facile  means;  by  ex- 
pending no  more  than  you  can  reasonably  hope  the  profits 
will  be ;  by  avoiding  all  imprudent  expenditures ;  by  not  em- 
barking in  any  imprudent  and  doubtful  speculations ;  by 
avoiding  an  extravagant  mode  of  life;  and  by  sound  morals 
and  sound  habits.    But  all  this  is  not  enough. 

You  are  charitable,  and  you  feel  that  charity  is  a  religious 
duty.  That  money  is  a  valuable  means,  and  you  study  the 
best  process  of  accumulation,  with  the  view  to  the  best  use 
of  it.  That  every  man  has  a  right,  in  conformity  to  the 
dictates  of  reason,  and  the  precepts  of  the  Bible,  to  get 
all  he  can,''  but  that  no  man  has  any  right,  according  to 
any  sound  principle,  to  keep  all  he  gets."  And  thus  you 
regulate  an  important  department  of  moral  duty.  But  this 
is  not  enough.    Something  more  is  required. 

You  are  a  member  of  the  church,  and  you  are  grave  and 
devout  in  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  you  re- 
ceive the  communion  in  an  orderly  manner,  and  this  you  do 
punctually ;  and  you  may  occasionally,  some  of  you  punc- 
tually, some  of  you  never,  be  found  at  the  weekly  meetings; 
and  you  may  observe  private  devotion  and  many  other  im- 
portant duties.  But  all  this  is  not  enough.  Something 
more  is  yet  required. 

We  have  but  few  words  more  to  add.  All  we  have  said, 
we  presume,  is  true.  But  it  is  also  true  that  business  and 
religion  should  have  such  a  due  proportion  of  attention,  as 


312  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS^  ETC. 


that  the  mind  shall  not  be  so  absorbed  in  the  one  as  to  ex- 
clude the  other.  That  busijiess  is  a  test  of  virtue,  to  the 
moral  man,  and  of  piety  to  the  religious  man,  because  it  is 
a  fiery  furnace  to  principle;  and  hence  the  Christian  is  in 
constant  need  of  Divine  support.  That  he  who  is  in  the 
pursuit  of  wealth  may  so  suffer  his  mind  to  dwell  upon  his 
future  greatness,  and  so  indulge  in  visions  of  magnificence 
and  power,  as  to  allow  the  love  of  money  to  become  the 
ruling  passion  of  his  heart,  and  be  lulled  into  a  fatal  se- 
curity, from  which  he  will  be  awakened  only  by  the  approach 
of  death  itself,  to  find  himself  bankrupt  in  happiness  as  well 
as  true  fortune  forever.  One  grand  obligation,  the  very 
emphasis  and  intensity  of  which  should  absorb  your  whole 
being,  should  adjust  your  secular  to  your  religious  duties. 
The  relation  between  time  and  eternity,  which  is  frightful 
and  incalculable,  and  which  no  rules  of  proportion  can  de- 
termine, should  never  be  disturbed  by  any  thing  that  is  finite 
and  perishable.  Forget  not  that  in  age,  should  you  reach 
it,  worldly  cares  will  partially  subside,  and  your  attention  be 
called  up  to  review  your  past  life  and  present  infirmities. 
Shall  each  year  in  lively,  worldly  concern  glide  insensibly 
away,  to  be  yours  no  more,  in  which  no  spiritual  truth  is 
learned,  no  religious  discipline  applied,  nor  habits  formed, 
nor  preparation  made  for  the  stupendous  and  supremely 
important  certainties  of  a  future  state  ?  Oh  check  the  pre- 
vailing spirit  and  habits  of  the  world  !  Adopt  a  wise  and 
constant  discipline.  When  should  you  begin  ?  This  mo- 
ment. Where  should  you  begin  ?  At  the  point  you  have 
neglected  most.  And  what  is  that  ?  Intimate,  habitual, 
Christian  communion,  in  the  holy  retirement  of  the  class- 
room  ;  which  no  business  should  ever  cause  you  to  neglect, 
unless  it  he  unavoidahle ;  and  you  should  so  arrange  your 
business  as  to  be  always  ready  to  discharge  faithfully  and 
profitably  this  religious  duty.  Men  of  business  !  merchants, 
farmers,  and  professional  men  I  we  sympathize  and  bear  with 


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313 


you;  but  do  you  deserve  the  sympathy  and  forbearance  to 
the  whole  extent  they  are  exercised  ?  Can  you  not  do 
better,  much  better,  as  Methodists,  than  you  have  done  for 
many  years  ?  Why  should  you  indulge,  or  be  indulged  by 
the  church,  in  this  prolonged  neglect?  Remember  your 
solemn  obligations  to  God,  his  church,  and  to  yourselves. 
Say  not,  if  you  attend  class  meeting,  you  cannot  make  as 
much,  and  so  must  give  less.  Be  it  so — rather  let  it  be  soy^ 
than  you  should  lose  your  souls  in  making  and  giving.  But 
neither  shall  be  so.  Do  your  icliole  duty^  and  from  this 
hour  you  shall  make  more,  give  more,  and  save  your  souls. 

6.  To  young  Christians,  Your  religious  life  has  just 
commenced.  You  are  connected  with  the  Methodist 
Church,  either  as  a  probationer  or  in  full  membership,  and 
you  joined  the  church  with  the  obligation  to  attend  the 
class  meeting  fully  in  view.  The  first  thing  announced, 
after  your  reception  on  probation,  was  your  assignment  to 
such  a  class,  and  the  care  of  such  a  leader,  and  then  your 
obligation  to  meet  in  class  commenced.  From  that  day  till 
the  present  time  this  obligation  has  remained  in  its  original 
force.  And  now  what  say  you,  young  Christians  ?  Have 
you  been  absent  from  class  in  a  single  instance,  without 
sufficient  excuse  ?  Have  some  of  you  been  to  your  classes 
at  all  since  you  joined  the  church,  and  pledged  yourselves 
to  attend  them  ?  Have  you  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  multi- 
tude who  neglect  class;  and  do  you  excuse  yourselves  upon 
the  ground  that  many  old  Christians  set  you  this  example  ? 
Well,  then,  you  have  made  short  work  of  your  religion  and 
religious  obligations.  You  have  come  quickly  to  the  end  of 
the  matter.  How  soon  have  the  young  fig-trees  withered 
away,  and  the  babes  in  Christ''  perished  I  Yours  now  is 
a  bare  profession,  in  which  you  are  balancing  the  solemnity 
and  force  of  your  religious  obligations  with  the  allurements 
and  pleasures  of  this  life;  and  does  the  preponderance  seem 
trembling  toward  the  latter  ?   Then  we  appeal  most  earnestly 

27 


314 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS;  ETC. 


to  you.  Alert  and  blooming,  will  you  choose  to  spend  this 
transitory  life  in  ease  and  gayety  ?  Will  you  expend  your 
energies  in  evanescent  pleasures  and  precarious  hopes  ?  By 
this  process  you  will  consolidate  your  mind  into  a  fixed  anti- 
pathy to  experimental  religion,  and  to  every  means  of  grace. 
The  valued  peculiarities  of  youth — its  hopes  and  charms — 
its  vigor  and  elasticity — its  daring,  and  the  animated  forces 
of  the  plentitude  of  life,  will  acquire  a  force  of  impulsion 
which  nothing  can  resist  when  youth  and  manhood  are  gone 
forever — when  the  finest  portion  of  life  is  wasted,  and  the 
pleasures  of  the  past  are  transformed  into  the  deepening 
shades  of  death,  and  you  can  make  but  a  feeble  and  inef- 
fectual efibrt  from  your  impoverished  resources  to  avert  the 
impending,  long-apprehended,  and  terrible  sequel  of  accu- 
mulated evils — a  sequel  invested  with  a  mystery  of  horror, 
and  a  boundlessness  of  calamity — a  fathomless  abyss,  from 
which  neither  wealth,  nor  fame,  nor  pleasure,  nor  hope,  is 
ever  to  emerge  again — advancing  with  the  certainty  of  a 
present  existence.  How  can  you,  as  a  Christian,  look  un- 
disturbed and  undismayed  upon  the  painful  uncertainties  of 
the  future  ?  What !  with  concerns  so  momentous  unsettled, 
and  a  hazard  so  formidable  impending,  will  you  spend  life 
presuming  you  will  retrieve  all  when  life  is  shaking  you  off 
at  last — a  situation  to  the  last  degree  unfavorable  to  prepa- 
ration ?  This  is  phrensy,  the  worst  insanity,  because  it  is 
deliberate,  reckless,  criminal,  and  cannot  prove  otherwise 
than  immeasurably  disastrous.  You  may  cast  yourself  head- 
long now  upon  this  presumption,  but  go  into  the  chamber  of  a 
guilty  conscience — go  and  stand  by  the  graves  of  Christians 
-—go,  in  imagination,  up  to  the  judgment 3  and  if  here  and 
there  you  cannot  with  unruffled  sincerity  repose  upon  the  issue, 
then  there  is  folly  in  your  indifi'erence,  and  madness  in  your 
^lay.  Oh,  there  is  a  freedom,  an  elation  of  spirit,  in  form- 
ing and  preserving  the  grand  purpose  of  eternal  fidelity  to 
Qod  and  his  church,  which,  as  an  eternal  and  celestial  fire, 


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315 


kindles  up  emotions  that  abide  in  the  heart  with  a  prolonged, 
and  a  deep,  and  a  vital  glow — the  more  intense  and  animat- 
ing the  deeper  the  gloom  and  the  sadness— unlike  those  of 
a  volatile  spirit,  thrown  off  amid  the  glitter  of  worldly  mirth 
and  dissipation,  and  suddei^y  vanishing  away  amid  solitude 
-  and  solemn  reflection — emotions  breathed  from  heaven,  that 
pass  into  pure  passions,  permanent  principles,  and  holy  sen- 
timents^— the  most  precious  gifts  and  exact  features  of  Grod 
himself,  and  settling  into  an  hahitual  sense  of  holiness  and 
happiness.  Nowhere  in  the  world  is  this  purpose  more  easily, 
and  firmly,  and  sacredly  formed  than  in  the  class-room ;  and 
on  no  one  is  the  duty  to  form  and  keep  it  more  imperiously 
laid  than  on  the  young  Christian.  The  benefits  of  the 
class  meeting  to  the  young  Christian  we  have  already  con- 
sidered, and  to  them  we  again  refer  you,  and  here  embody 
them  in  our  appeal  to  your  sense  of  duty  and  privilege. 

When  pursued  by  the  wrath  of  God,  you  fled  for  refuge 
to  his  mercy  in  Christ,  and  the  church  met  you  at  the  altar, 
and  assisted  you  in  your  flight,  and  helped  you  to  the  cross, 
and  so  you  escaped.  Then  you  joined  the  church,  and 
why  ?  That  you  might  save  your  soul.  And  now  will  you 
prove  ungrateful  to  the  Father  who  forgave  you,  to  the  Son 
who  died  for  you,  to  the  Spirit  who  regenerated  you,  and  to 
the  church  who  aided  you  ?  Will  you  frustrate  your  own 
object  in  joining  the  church  ?  Why  did  you  pray  for 
mercy  at  all  ?  why  did  you  join  the  church  at  all  ?  why 
did  you  not  continue  in  sins  ?  Were  you  sincere  in  aban- 
doning your  sins,  in  professing  religion,  and  in  joining  the 
church  ?  We  will  suppose  you  were.  Then  what  means 
this  neglect  of  the  class  meeting,  and  other  means  of  grace — 
but  especially  the  class  meeting  ?  Have  you  lost  your  love 
for  Christ  and  his  people?  is  that  the  cause  of  your  neglect? 
Say  you  so  ?  Then  we  reply,  that  very  neglect  produced 
this  loss  of  love.  Or  do  you  say  your  abjections  to  class 
meetings  have  caused  you  to  neglect  them  ?   Say  you  that  ? 


316 


DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADES,  ETC. 


Then  we  reply,  that  very  neglect  originated,  fostered,  and 
strengthened  these  objections.  Or  do  you  say  you  have  no 
excuse  to  give — ^you  have  done  wrong — and  you  are  heartily 
sorry  for  it  ?  That  is  candid,  and  there  is  hope  in  your 
case.  Especially  so,  as  in  a  young  Christian  the  habit  of 
neglect  is  not  yet  confirmed.  Beware  of  delay  !  Old  for- 
malists know  and  groan  under  its  evils.  Beware  of  the 
general  neglect,  it  may  be,  around  you  !  You  are  as  respon- 
sible for  the  observance  of  the  class  meeting  as  if  every 
Methodist  in  the  world  besides  yourself  observed  it,  or  with 
yourself  neglected  it.  There  stands  the  rule  in  the  Discipline, 
and  uncancelled  is  your  obligation  to  keep  it.  Beware, 
young  Christians,  we  repeat,  of  the  general  neglect,  if  it 
exist  around  you !  If  you  expect  but  few  will  be  at  the 
meeting,  go — that  none  but  yourself  will  be  there,  go — and 
if  the  leader  himself,  too,  give  up  in  despair,  then  go  to 
your  pastor,  and  request  to  be  assigned  to  a  class  that  does 
meet.  And  if  the  classes  are  all  disbanded,  which  is  an  ex- 
treme supposition,  then  go  to  your  pastor,  and  tell  him  your 
whole  case,  and  let  there  be  one  at  least  who  fulfils  his  obli- 
gation and  respects  his  church.  Young  Christians,  on  you 
depends  the  character  of  Methodism  the  next  generation. 
May  you  find  a  happy  way  through  crowded  class-rooms  to 
the  heavenly  mansions,  after  you  shall  have  transmitted  to 
posterity  the  salutary  example  of  a  holy  generation  ! 

6.  To  old  and  faithful  Christians.  Ye  are  the  substan- 
tial members  of  the  church  of  God.  Ye  have  never  yet 
been  elevated  where  ye  need  not  deeper  and  richer  truths, 
or  where  ye  are  unable  to  understand  something  more. 
•  The  gospel  is  a  progressive  principle,  whose  limit  is  neither 
on  earth  nor  in  heaven,  designed  to  develope  in  you  the  saints 
and  heirs  of  God.  Heed  not  the  world\s  uproar  and  clamor 
— fear  not  its  trials  and  its  power — respect  not  its  excite- 
ment, show,  and  semblance.  The  gates  of  heaven  are  open 
not  far  before  you.    Live  singularly  holy  lives.    Make  a 


APPEAL  TO  PRIVATE  MEMBERS. 


317 


faithful  use  of  every  thing  around  you  in  getting  safely 
home.  The  prospect  before  you  is  soul-cheering  and  strength- 
ening. The  work  already  done^  the  obstacles  and  difficul- 
ties passed,  the  progress  made,  have  brought  jou  not  far 
from  the  end  of  your  journey.  You  cannot  meet  with  us 
much  longer ;  you  cannot  be  detained  from  the  fellowship 
of  heaven  much  longer,  to  which  you  have  so  often  looked 
from  the  class-room  with  the  purest  and  deepest  emotions 
of  delight  and  hope.  Often  now  your  whole  soul  is  ani- 
mated with  a  sense  of  the  importance  and  practicability  of 
making  your  election  sure.  Oh  that  your  zeal,  and  ardor,  and 
efforts,  and  example,  may  arouse  a  sleeping  church  around 
you  !  How  often  have  you  carried  home  from  the  class- 
room a  knowledge  and  a  courage  that  gave  you  boldness 
and  energy  in  the  hour  of  trial,  and  by  which  you  have 
controlled  and  managed  your  spiritual  fortunes.  Ye  have 
been  governed  by  a  full  and  settled  decision  to  follow  the 
truth.  Ye  have  attended  the  class  meeting  because  it  was 
right  to  do  so.  May  the  same  spirit  control  the  church  to 
the  latest  generation  ! 

From  you  who  yet  remain  with  us  we  may  learn  useful 
lessons.  You  tell  us,  time  was  when  Methodists  had  preach- 
ing on  week-days,  and  they  regarded  this  as  a  great  privi- 
lege, and  the  church  was  crowded,  as  it  now  is  on  the  Sab- 
bath. You  tell  us,  time  was  when,  after  preaching,  the 
pastor  or  the  leader  met  the  crowded  class,  and  the  power 
of  God  was  displayed  more  in  the  class  meeting  than  under 
the  sermon.  You  tell  us,  time  was  when  the  plainest  and 
most  zealous  preachers — ^and  you  mention  now,  with  vene- 
ration, the  names  of  many  such  long  since  gone  to  their 
reward — were  most  acceptable,  and  most  successful.  You 
tell  us,  time  was  when  simplicity,  self-denial,  deadness  to 
the  world,  zeal,  punctuality,  and  deep  religious  experience, 
were  the  prevailing  characteristics  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  that  Methodists  were  proverbial  for  these.  You  tell  us, 
27* 


318  DUTIES  OF  PREACHERS,  LEADERS,  ETC. 


time  was  when  the  ordinary  conversation  of  Methodists  was 
about  the  great  things  Grod  was  doing,  and  how  they  might 
help  and  encourage  each  other  in  the  good  way,  and  save 
perishing  sinners  around  them,  and  their  conversation  was 
mingled  with  shouts,  and  prayers,  and  praise.  You  tell  us, 
time  was  when  the  class  meeting,  the  prayer-meeting,  the 
love-feast,  and  the  sacrament,  were  considered  great  and 
precious  privileges,  and  that  business  was  suspended  rather 
than  these  should  be  neglected,  and  that  business  was 
none  the  worse  for  giving  a  day,  or  part  of  a  day,  from  the 
crops  or  the  trades.  You  tell  us,  time  was  when  revivals 
were  overwhelming  and  extensive ;  and  it  is  soul-stirring  to 
hear  you  recount  the  awful  scenes  of  other  days  at  camp- 
meetings,  protracted  meetings,  under  ordinary  preaching,  in 
the  usual  neighborhood  prayer-meetings,  and  even  at  family 
prayer.  You  tell  us,  time  was  when  ordinarily  Methodists 
died  shouting ;  and  it  is  intensely  exciting  to  hear  your  re- 
citals of  death-bed  scenes,  the  glory  of  which,  like  the 
light  of  extinguished  stars,  still  lingers  in  the  heavens. 
You  tell  us  all  this,  and  much  more.  But  now,  as  a  gene- 
ral fact,  how  changed  !  Would  to  Grod  that  we  could  blot 
out  much  of  what  we  have  written  !  Would  to  God  that 
the  following  ages  maybe  brighter  than  the  preceding  I — that 
the  former  glory  of  Methodism  may  be  the  starting  point 
of  a  more  brilliant  future !  Would  to  God  that,  before 
you  leave  us,  you  may  hear  the  sounds  of  revival  universal 
in  the  land  1  That  you  may  see  your  almost  deserted  class- 
rooms reoccupied  and  crowded  again  as  in  other  days  ! — the 
days  of  primitive  simplicity  and  power  return  !  and  the 
glory  of  God  with  tenfold  brightness  shine  upon  the  church, 
and  light  you  to  your  graves  in  its  advancing  splendors. 
And  now  what  wait  you  for  but  this,  and  your  dying 
triumph  ? 


PART  VL 

CHAPTER  I. 

DUTY  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  SUPPORT  ITS  MINISTRY. 

"The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof/'  He 
^'feedeth  the  fowls  of  the  air/'  and  ^^clothes  the  lilies  of  the 
field/'  and  not  "  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground  without  his 
notice."  So  long  as  a  sparrow  flutters  in  the  air,  his  people 
have  a  pledge  that  he  will  provide  for  them.  God  will  never 
raise  up  his  ministry  without  providing  for  their  temporal 
wants.  A  more  remarkable  instance  of  this  cannot  be  found 
recorded  upon  the  pages  of  history  than  that  of  the  Wes- 
ley an  Methodist  ministry.  The  organization  of  the  classes, 
which  subsequently  became  a  fundamental  department  of 
Methodism  for  spiritual  objects,  was  suggested  and  adopted 
for  temporal  ends ;  no  interpretation  of  divine  Providence  is 
plainer  than  that  God  designed  that  the  classes  should  ac- 
complish both  these  purposes  in  the  constitution  of  the  Me- 
thodist Church.  We  have  already  considered  their  spiritual 
nature  and  advantages ;  it  remains  for  us  to  consider  their 
temporal  nature  and  advantages;  and  in  doing  so,  we  but 
return  to  their  original  design.  It  is  proper  that  we  should 
do  this ;  indeed,  this  treatise  were  incomplete  without  it. 
We  shall  first  show  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  church  to  fur- 

319 


320     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


nish  its  ministry  with  a  temporal  support,  and  then  consider 
the  efficiency  of  the  classes  to  raise  this  support. 

1.  The  duty  of  the  church  to  furnish  its  ministry  with  a 
temporal  support  may  be  clearly  proved  from  the  Scriptures. 

Christ  himself  and  his  apostles  were  supported  by  pious 
contributions :  ^'  Then  saith  one  of  his  disciples^  Judas  Isca- 
riot,  "Why  was  not  this  ointment  sold  for  three  hundred  pence, 
and  given  to  the  poor  ?  This  he  said,  not  because  he  cared 
for  the  poor,  but  because  he  was  a  thief,  and  had  the  bag, 
and  bare  icliat  icas  jput  therein.'''^  At  the  last  paschal  sup- 
per, when  our  Lord  said  to  Judas,  ^*  That  thou  doest,  do 
quickly,^ ^  some  of  the  apostles  ^'  thought,  because  Judas 
had  the  bag,  that  Jesus  had  said  unto  him.  Buy  those  things 
which  we  have  need  of  against  the  feast ;  or  that  he  should 
give  something  to  the  poor.''f  Our  Lord's  stock  of  money 
indeed  must  have  been  small,  and  Judas,  as  his  steward,  de- 
sired to  make  a  sale  of  3Iary's  ointment  as  an  investment 
for  the  poor;  and  so  we  may  conclude  that  contributions 
from  well-disposed  persons  were  received  for  our  Lord's  use. 
The  same  is  expressed  by  St.  Luke:  ''There  went  about 
with  Jesus  certain  women,  which  had  been  healed  of  evil 
spirits  and  infirmities :  Mary  called  Magdalene,  out  of  whom 
went  seven  devils ;  and  Joanna,  the  wife  of  Chuza,  Herod's 
steward,  and  Susanna,  and  many  others,  which  ministered 
unto  him  of  their  substance J  which  implies  that  our 
blessed  Lord  and  his  company  were  supported  by  the  pious 
contributions  of  his  followers.  To  the  apostles  he  gave  this 
instruction:  ''Provide  neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  brass  in 
your  purses;  nor  scrip  for  your  journey,  neither  two  coats, 
neither  shoes,  nor  yet  staves :  for  the  workman  is  worthy  of 
his  meat."§  And  he  gave  the  same  instruction  to  the 
seventy  :     Carry  neither  pui-se  uor  scrip ;  and  into  whatso- 


*  John  xii.  6, 


t  John  xiii.  27,  2S, 
§  Mart.  X.  9,  10. 


i  Luke  viii.  2,  8. 


DUTY  TO  SUPPORT  THE  MINISTRY.  821 


ever  house  ye  enter,  in  the  same  remain,  eating  and  drink- 
ing such  things  as  they  give  you;  for  the  laborer  is  worthy 
of  his  hire/^*    And  a  competent  support  was  given  them : 

When  I  sent  you  without  purse,  and  scrip,  and  shoes,  lacked 
ye  any  thing  ?    They  said  Nothing/^f 

And  so  the  apostles,  and  other  gospel  ministers,  were  sup- 
ported after  our  Lord's  ascension.  The  first  Christians  sold 
their  estates,  and  gave  the  price  of  them  to  the  apostles,  to 
be  disposed  of  by  them  for  the  necessities  of  the  church.  J  To 
the  Philippians,  a  church  which  he  had  planted,  and  from 
which  he  had  received  large  contributions,  St.  Paul  thus 
writes:  ^^Now,  ye  Philippians,  know  also,  that  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  gospel,  when  I  departed  from  Macedonia,  no 
church  communicated  with  me,  as  concerning  giving  and  re- 
ceiving, but  ye  only.  For  even  in  Thessalonica  ye  sent 
once  and  again  to  my  necessity.  Not  because  I  desire  a 
gift ;  but  I  desire  fruit,  which  may  abound  to  your  account. 
But  I  have  all  and  abound :  I  am  full,  having  received  of 
Epaphroditus  the  things  which  were  sent  from  you,  an  odor 
of  a  sweet  smell,  a  sacrifice  acceptable,  well-pleasing  to  God. 
But  my  God  shall  supply  all  your  need,  according  to  his 
riches  in  glory  by  Christ  Jesus. These  liberal  contribu- 
tions the  apostle  calls  an  acceptable  oblation  to  God,  and  as- 
sures the  Philippians  that  God  will  abundantly  recompense 
them.  While  he  reminds  the  Thessalonians,  that  he  had 
maintained  himself  by  his  own  labor,  "  neither  eating 
any  man's  bread  for  nought,  but  working  with  labor  and 
travel  night  and  day,  that  he  might  not  be  chargeable  to 
any/' II  at  the  same  time,  in  the  next  words,  he  asserts  his 
right  to  a  maintenance  from  them :  ^'not  because  we  have  not 
power,  but  to  make  ourselves  an  example  unto  you  to  follow 
us.    For  even  when  we  were  with  you,  this  we  commanded 


*  Luke  X.  5.  f  Luke  xxii.  35.  J  Acts  iv.  37. 

§  Phil.  iv.  15-19.  II  2  Thess.  iii.  8. 


822     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OP  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


you,  that  if  any  would  not  work,  neither  should  he  eat;  for  we 
hear  that  there  are  some,  which  walk  among  you  disorderly, 
working  not  at  all;  but  are  busy-bodies/^'^  From  the  Corin- 
thians he  refused  to  receive  a  maintenance,  and  this  he  did  to 
silence  certain  false  teachers,  who,  in  order  to  insinuate  them- 
selves into  their  good  opinion,  preached  without  receiving 
any  thing  from  them ;  and  yet  he  asserts  ^nd  proves  his  right 
to  a  competent  support :  Or  I  only,  and  Barnabas,  have 
we  not  power  to  forbear  working  ?  Who  goeth  a  warfare  at 
his  own  charges  ?  Who  planteth  a  vineyard,  and  eateth  not 
of  the  fruit  thereof?  Or  who  feedeth  a  flock,  and  eateth  not 
of  the  milk  of  the  flock.  Say  I  these  things  as  a  man,  or 
saith  not  the  law  the  same  also  ?  For  it  is  written  in  the 
law  of  Moses,  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  mouth  of  the  ox 
that  treadeth  out  the  corn.  Doth  Grod  take  care  of  oxen, 
or  saith  he  it  altogether  for  our  sakes  ?  For  our  sakes,  no 
doubt,  this  is  written — that  he  that  plougheth,  should 
plough  in  hope;  and  he  that  thresheth  in  hope,  should  be 
partaker  of  his  hope.  If  we  have  sown  into  you  spiritual 
things,  is  it  a  great  matter  if  we  reap  your  carnal  things  ? 
If  others  be  partakers  of  this  power  over  you,  are  not  we 
rather?  Nevertheless,  we  have  not  used  this  power;  but 
sufier  all  things,  lest  we  should  hinder  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
Do  ye  not  know,  that  they  who  minister  about  holy  things, 
live  of  the  things  of  the  temple ;  and  they  who  wait  at  the 
altar,  are  partakers  with  the  altar  ?  Even  so  hath  the  Lord 
ordained,  that  they  who  preach  the  gospel,  should  live  of 
the  gospel.  But  I  have  used  none  of  these  things.''*]"  This 
is  a  comprehensive  argument,  proving  that  the  ministers  of 
the  gospel  have  a  right  to  support,  from  the  law  of  nature 
and  reason,  as  in  the  case  of  soldiers  and  husbandmen ;  from 
the  law  and  practice  of  the  Jews ;  and  from  the  express  in- 
jititution  of  Christ  himself ;  and  therefore,  while  Paul  and 


*  2  Thess.  iii.  9-11. 


t  1  Cor.  ix.  6-15. 


DUTY  TO  SUPPORT  THE  MINISTRY. 


323 


Barnabas  refused  to  accept  maintenance  in  this  case,  they 
had  a  right  to  it.  St.  Paul  commands  the  Gralatians  to  be 
liberal  to  the  ministers  of  God's  word  among  them:  "Let 
him  that  is  taught  in  the  word  communicate  to  him  that 
teacheth  in  all  good  things.  Be  not  deceived,  God  is  not 
mocked :  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  also  shall  he 
reap.'^*  Indeed,  in  another  place,  he  enjoins  Timothy  to 
take  care  that  the  elders,  who  faithfully  discharge  their  la- 
bor, should  have  double  honor ;  that  is,  a  liberal  support : 
"  Let  the  elders  that  rule  well,  be  accounted  worthy  of  double 
honor,  especially  they  who  labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine. 
For  the  Scripture  saith.  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  mouth  of 
the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn :  and  the  laborer  is  worthy 
of  his  reward.'^f 

No  duty,  we  have  seen,  is  more  plainly  enjoined  in  the 
Bible  than  that  of  the  church  to  support  its  ministry.  But 
all  duties  are  not  alike  easy  to  perform :  as  for  example,  it 
is  often  easier  to  pray  to  God  for  benefits,  spiritual  and 
temporal,  and  to  praise  and  thank  him  for  them  when  they 
are  bestowed,  than  it  is  to  part  with  a  small  proportion  of 
temporal  things  for  the  support  of  the  gospel — than  it  is  to 
deny  one's  self,  take  up  the  cross,  and  follow  Christ  in  doing 
good.  With  many  it  is  much  easier  to  go  to  church,  and 
listen  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  and  receive  the  sacra- 
ment, and  engage  in  the  public  worship  of  God,  than  it  is 
to  contribute  any  thing  to  the  maintainance  of  the  ministry 
of  the  word.  But  though  difficult  to  perform,  the  duty  is 
not  the  less  imperative;  and  the  selfishness  that  shrinks 
from  its  performance,  so  as  to  neglect  it  altogether,  is  actual 
sin  in  the  sight  of  God.  It  is  deliberate  robbery  of  God. 
"  Will  a  man  rob  God  ?  Yet  ye  have  robbed  me.  But  ye 
say,  Wherein  have  we  robbed  thee  ?  In  tithes  and  ofibrings. 
Ye  are  cursed  with  a  curse :  for  ye  have  robbed  me,  even 


*  Gal  vi.  6t,  7. 


t  1  Tim.  V.  17,  18. 


324     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OP  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


this  whole  nation.  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  store- 
house, that  there  may  be  meat  in  mine  house,  and  prove  me 
now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open 
you  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing, 
that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it.  And  I 
will  rebuke  the  devourer  for  your  sakes,  and  he  shall  not 
destroy  the  fruits  of  your  ground ;  neither  shall  your  vine 
cast  her  fruit  before  the  time  in  the  field,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts.'^*  By  withholding  support  from  the  priests,  they  had 
not  food  enough  to  sustain  life,  and  God's  worship  was  ne- 
glected, and  the  curse  of  the  Divine  displeasure  rested  upon 
the  whole  nation.  But  great  temporal  blessing  is  promised 
to  the  discharge  of  this  duty.  Grive  as  ye  should,  and,  so 
far  from  diminishing  your  stock,  Iioill  open  the  ivindows  of 
heaven — give  you  rains  and  fruitful  seasons  in  such  abun- 
dance, that  your  barns  and  granaries  shall  not  be  large  enough 
to  contain  your  harvests  and  your  vintage ;  the  rust,  and  the 
fly,  and  the  devourer  shall  not  come  upon  your  crops ;  every 
blossom  shall  ripen  into  fruit,  and  every  bunch  of  grapes 
shall  come  to  maturity. 

What  is  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  church  is  dedi- 
cated to  God,  and  is  so  accepted  by  him.  Thus  Solomon 
enjoins:  Honor  the  Lord  with  thy  substance,  and  with 
the  first-fruits  of  all  thy  increase. '^f  Ananias  was  punished 
for  reserving  to  himself  part  of  the  price  of  his  land,  and 
so  Peter  told  him  he  had  not  lied  unto  man,  but  unto  God, 
pretending  to  give  a  larger  oblation  to  God  than  he  did. 
St.  Paul  writes  to  the  Philippians :  But  I  have  all,  and 
abound :  I  am  full,  having  received  of  Epaphroditus  the 
things  which  were  sent  from  you,  an  odor  of  a  sweet  smell, 
a  sacrifice  acceptable,  well-pleasing  to  God.^'J  Therefore, 
the  withholding  what  is  due  to  the  church  and  the  ministry 
is  an  injury  done  to  God  himself. 


*  Mai.  iii.  9-11 


f  Prov.  iii.  9. 


X  Phil.  iv.  18. 


DUTY  TO  SUPPORT  THE  MINISTRY. 


325 


2.  We  next  inquire  whether  God  has  fixed  any  certain 
and  definite  amount  or  proportion  for  the  maintenance  of 
his  ministers,  or  left  the  church  at  liberty  to  give  what  they 
shall  think  fit.  It  will  be  of  use  to  consider  the  proportion 
which  God  allotted  to  the  support  of  Jewish  priests  :  "  The 
priests  had  the  first-fruits  of  cattle,  corn,  wine,  oil,  and  other 
fruits  of  the  earth,  which  the  Jews  dedicated  every  year  to 
God ;  and  the  price  which  was  paid  for  the  redemption  of 
their  first-born  children :  they  had  the  voluntary  oblations 
which  the  people  vowed  to  God,  and  those  which  they  offered 
without  any  precedent  vow,  and  the  remainder  of  things 
offered  in  sacrifice.  The  Levites  had  the  tenths  of  all 
things,  and  the  high  priest  had  the  tenth  of  their  tenths ; 
and  both  of  these  tenths  were  to  be  the  best  of  their  several 
kinds.  And  beside  this,  they  had  forty-eight  cities,  with 
the  adjoining  territories  of  land,  to  hold  as  their  free  and 
perpetual  inheritance.  So  that  the  Levites,  who  were  one 
of  the  least  of  the  twelve  tribes,  as  appears  from  the  com- 
putation in  the  times  of  Moses  and  of  David,  may  reason- 
ably be  supposed  to  have  had  almost  four-twelfth  parts  of  the 
product  of  the  country;  so  that  their  estate  was  at  least 
four  times  as  good  as  that  of  any  other  tribe.  And  if  the 
Levites  were  commonly  between  thirty  and  forty  thousand, 
which  is  the  utmost  we  can  suppose  them  to  have  been, 
from  the  before-mentioned  accounts,  then  the  proportion  # 
allotted  to  the  high  priest  was  equal  to  what  three  or  four 
hundred  Levites  lived  upon.^^*  Indeed,  the  custom  of  pay- 
ing tithes  was  practised  long  before  the  time  of  Moses. 
Abraham  gave  tithes  to  Melchisedek,  King  of  Salem,  not  as 
a  tribute  to  him  as  King  of  Salem,  for  he  was  not  one  of  his 
subjects,  but  as  priest  of  the  most  high  God.f  And  so 
Jacob  vowed  to  the  Lord,  that  if  he  would  provide  for  him 


Potter  on  Church  Government,  pp.  370,  371. 
t  Gen.  xiv.  18,  20;  Heb.  vii.  9,  10. 

28 


326     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


in  his  journey  to  Padan  Aram,  and  restore  Mm  in  safety  to 
his  family  and  country,  Of  all  which  thou  shalt  give  me, 
I  will  give  thee  the  tenth."*  It  cannot  be  maintained  that 
these  were  merely  voluntary  offerings,  because  there  is  no 
positive  injunction  of  the  kind  in  the  history  of  Genesis. 
Genesis  contains  the  history  of  between  two  and  three  thou- 
sand years,  and  relates  things  very  briefly,  and  hence  we 
might  just  as  well  conclude  that  God  did  not  at  this  time 
require  men  to  worship  him,  or  sacrifice  to  him,  or  perform 
any  moral  duties  toward  one  another,  because  there  is  no 
express  precept  on  these  subjects.  But  we  find  the  practice 
of  these  things  stated,  and  the  practice  accepted  by  God ; 
and  so  the  practice  of  dedicating  tenths  to  God,  and  accepted 
by  him  :  and  we  may  conclude,  therefore,  that  it  was  done 
by  divine  precept. 

Besides,  the  general  agreement  of  mankind  is  an  argu- 
ment that  the  proportion  of  tenths  is  of  divine  institution, 
because  nations  the  most  remote  from  one  another,  who  had 
no  intercourse  with  one  another,  and  therefore  had  no  cer- 
tain and  fixed  rule  of  acting,  agreed  in  dedicating  an  exact 
tenth,  which  we  can  ascribe  to  no  other  origin  than  the  tra- 
dition of  Adam,  or  Noah,  or  some  other  patriarch,  who  lived 
before  the  dispersion  of  Babel.  ^^In  Arabia  we  find  a 
law,  whereby  every  merchant  was  obliged  to  offer  the  tenth 
of  his  frankincense,  which  was  the  chief  product  and  com- 
modity of  this  country,  to  the  god  Sabis.  The  Carthagi- 
nians sent  the  tithe  of  their  spoils  taken  in  the  Sicilian  war 
to  Hercules  of  Tyre.  The  Ethiopians  paid  tithes  to  their 
god  Assabinus.  The  Grecian  army,  which  was  conducted 
by  Xenophon  in  their  memorable  retreat  after  the  death  of 
Cyrus,  reserved  a  tenth  of  their  money  to  be  dedicated  to 
Apollo  at  Delphi,  and  Diana  at  Ephesus.  When  the  Greeks 
had  driven  the  Persians  out  of  their  country,  they  conse- 


^  Gen.  xxviii.  21,  22, 


DUTY  TO  SUPPORT  THE  MINISTRY.  327 


crated  a  golden  tripod,  made  of  the  tenths  of  their  spoils,  to 
Delphian  Apollo.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Isle  Siphnus 
presented  every  year  the  tenths  of  the  gold  and  silver  digged 
out  of  their  mines  to  the  same  god.  The  Athenians 
and  their  confederates  dedicated  a  buckler  of  gold,  out  of 
the  tenths  of  the  spoils  taken  at  Tanagra,  to  J upiter.  And 
the  Athenians  dedicated  a  chariot  and  horses  of  gold,  made 
out  of  one  tenth,  to  Pallas.  When  Cyrus  had  conquered 
Lydia,  Croesus  advised  him  to  prevent  his  soldiers  from 
plundering  the  goods  of  the  Lydians,  because  they  were  of 
necessity  to  be  tithed  to  Jupiter.  The  Crotonians  vowed  to 
give  a  tenth  of  their  spoils,  which  they  should  take  in  their 
war  with  the  Locrians,  to  Delphian  Apollo.  Sylla,  the 
Koman  general,  dedicated  the  tenth  of  all  his  estate  to 
Hercules ;  and  the  same  was  done  by  M.  Crassus  :  and  we 
are  told  by  Plutarch,  that  this  was  a  constant  custom  at 
Rome.  Hercules  himself  is  said  to  have  dedicated  to  the 
gods  the  tenth  of  the  spoils  which  he  took  from  Geryon. 
When  Camillus  sacked  Veii,  a  city  of  Hetruria,  the  soldiers 
seized  the  spoils  for  their  own  use,  without  reserving  the 
accustomed  tenth  for  the  gods :  after  this  the  augurs  dis- 
covered, by  their  observations  on  the  sacrifices,  that  the  gods 
were  exceedingly  offended ;  whereupon  the  senate  of  Rome 
required  all  the  soldiers  to  account,  upon  oath,  for  the  spoils 
which  they  had  taken,  and  to  pay  a  tenth  of  them,  or  the 
full  value,  all  which,  with  a  golden  cup  of  eight  talents,  was 
conveyed  to  Apollo's  temple  at  Delphi  by  three  men  of  the 
first  quality  at  Rome.  And,  lastly,  we  are  informed  by 
Festus  that  the  ancients  offered  to  their  gods  the  tithes  of 
all  things,  without  any  exceptions.'^*  As  the  general  no- 
tions of  good  and  evil  are  to  be  traced  to  Noah  and  his 
family,  and  beyond  them  to  the  antediluvian  ancestors  of 
the  human  race,  so  the  general  agreement  among  mankind 


^  Potter  on  Church  Government,  pp.  375,  376. 


328     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


in  the  proportion  of  tenths  is  to  be  traced  to  the  same 
origin ;  and  in  the  latter  case  more  probably  than  in  the 
former,  because  the  general  notions  of  good  and  evil  may, 
in  some  degree,  be  discoverable  by  the  light  of  nature, 
without  tradition ;  but  the  general  agreement  in  the  exact 
proportion  of  tenths,  being  in  the  nature  of  things  indifferent 
and  undetermined,  cannot  be  traced  to  any  rational  and 
satisfactory  cause  but  positive  tradition. 

And  yet,  while  the  New  Testament  asserts  the  right  of 
the  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  maintenance,  it  is  wholly 
silent  as  to  the  proportion  of  tenths,  and  that  for  several 
reasons.  First,  the  apostles  could  not  consistently  claim 
the  proportion  of  tenths  for  themselves,  while  others  sold 
their  estates  for  the  service  of  the  church  and  the  poor. 
Secondly,  in  that  age  the  zeal  of  the  church  very  much 
exceeded  the  proportion  of  tenths.  Thirdly,  under  the  gos- 
pel, it  is  evident  the  support  of  the  ministry  is  to  be  pro- 
portioned to  necessity.  Fourthly,  while  the  church  and 
the  apostles  had  all  things  in  common,  there  was  no  neces- 
sity for  any  special  and  fixed  proportion  to  the  apostles.  And 
yet  there  is  the  same  reason  now  as  always  existed,  why  a 
tenth  should  be  appropriated  to  the  general  uses  of  the 
church ;  not  that  a  tenth  of  every  man's  estate  should  be 
consecrated  to  the  support  of  the  ministry,  but  to  the  gene- 
ral interests  of  the  church ;  and  of  this  tenth  the  ministry 
should  have  a  proportion  sufficient  for  a  plentiful  support. 
A  safe  rule,  therefore,  for  every  Christian  would  be,  to  give 
one-tenth  of  his  income  to  benevolent  and  pious  objects. 
We  shall  refer  to  this  rule  again  a  few  pages  farther  on. 

3.  The  true  church  of  God,  in  all  ages,  has  liberally  met 
the  temporal  wants  of  its  ministry.  Though  the  apostles 
obtained  not  a  tithe  from  the  Jewish  church,  yet  from  the 
voluntary  contributions  of  their  converts  they  obtained  a 
sufficient  support,  and  lacked  nothing/'  The  same  may 
be  said  of  Luther  and  his  coadjutors — and  of  the  two  thou- 


DUTY  TO  SUPPORT  THE  MINISTRY.  329 


sand  excellent  ministers  thrust  out  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land by  the  act  of  Non-conformity — and  of  Chalmers^  and 
Gordon,  and  those  associated  with  them  in  the  organization 
of  the  New  Church  of  Scotland ;  and  so  of  the  Wesleys, 
when  they  were  shut  out  of  the  churches  of  England,  not 
by  act  of  parliament,  but  by  clergymen  who  possessed  the 
church's  benefices — and  of  those  men  who  were  converted 
through  their  instrumentality,  and  soon  became  their  helpers 
in  the  ministry ;  and  so  it  is  now,  and  so  it  ever  will  be. 
For  Christianity  is  self-supporting  :  its  principles,  wherever 
embraced,  and  its  blessings,  wherever  experienced,  furnish 
both  the  guiding  and  impulsive  power  required  to  meet  all 
its  expenses.  Every  Christian,  by  the  spontaneous  ten- 
dency of  his  new  nature,  will  find  something,  however  small, 
to  give.  As  a  body,  the  Methodists,  in  England  and 
America,  are  a  generous  people.  And  yet,  as  there  was  a 
covetous  Judas  in  Christ's  little  family,  and  Ananias  and 
Sapphira,  and  a  Demas,  were  among  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, it  is  not  surprising  that  there  should  be  among  us 
selfish  persons,  who  either  give  grudgingly,  or  not  at  all. 
Some  persons  calculate  what  they  do  for  religion,  but  not 
what  they  may  gain  by  it — as  increased  industry,  temperance, 
frugality,  bodily  health,  temporal  prosperity,  the  fruits  of 
the  ministry  of  the  word,  of  the  sacraments,  answer  to 
prayer,  the  blessings  of  Christian  fellowship,  illumination 
of  the  understanding,  convictions  of  the  evil  of  sin,  im- 
pressions of  divine  things  on  the  heart,  and  attractions  to 
endless  glory ;  which  worlds  could  not  purchase,  and  which 
are  freely  and  abundantly  given  to  all  the  real  disciples  of 
Christ.    But  we  are  anticipating  another  part  of  this  work. 

4.  The  amount,  in  all  cases,  for  the  support  of  the  minis- 
try, should  be  such  as  to  make  them  comfortable,  and  their 
work  delightful.    As  the  wants  of  ministers  should  be  rea- 
sonable and  scriptural,  such  as  are  confined  within  the  , 
limits  of  frugality  and  economy,  and  are  not  created  by 

28^'- 


330     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


extravagance,  nor  arise  from  avarice,  or  any  species  of  in- 
temperance whatever,  certainly  every  faithful  minister  of 
the  gospel  should  be  kept  by  the  church  above  contempt  in 
his  temporal  circumstances,  free  from  the  cares  of  poverty, 
above  want,  and  also  have  something  to  spare  for  the  poor 
and  the  sick.  We  say,  every  faithful  laborer  should  be  so 
supported  as  to  be  encouraged  to  pursue  his  noble  work  with 
holy  ardor  and  delight.  But  not  so  the  ministerial  drone. 
Set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  sanctuary — called  to  watch 
over  souls — and  required  to  work  in  his  Lord's  vineyard — 
the  minister  of  the  gospel,  in  health  and  strength,  if  he  will 
not  do  his  work  faithfully,  as  one  who  must  give  a  strict 
account,  has  no  claim  to  support  from  the  church ;  for 
the  sacred  rule  is,  "  he  that  will  not  work  shall  not  eat.'' 
He  is  not  a  blessing,  but  a  curse  to  his  people.  Let  him 
retire. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EFFICIENCY   OF  THE   CLASS-MEETING    SYSTEM   TO  RAISE 
THIS  SUPPORT. 

One  of  the  most  perplexing,  intricate,  and  difficult  ques- 
tions that  have  engaged  the  minds  of  legislators  in  church 
and  state  is,  What  is  the  best  method  or  system  to  raise  a 
revenue  for  the  support  of  government  ?  The  best  abilities 
and  soundest  experience  have  been  employed  upon  it.  In 
the  Methodist  Church  a  system  of  class-collections  has  been 
adopted  by  the  united  wisdom  of  the  General  Conference ; 
and  though  modifications  of  this  system  have  been  substi- 
tuted in  many  places,  none  can  work  so  well  as  this,  because 
none  is  so  consistent  as  this  with  the  genius  and  structure 
of  Methodism.  The  very  basis,  we  repeat,  of  the  division 
of  the  Methodist  Church  into  classes  for  spiritual  purposes, 
originated  in  a  regulation  for  temporal  objects.  The  same 
regulation,  therefore,  is  designed  to  accomplish  both  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  prosperity  of  our  church.  This  is 
the  utmost  simplicity.  Both  should  move  harmoniously 
together.  The  neglect  of  the  classes  spiritually  will  be 
followed  proportionably  by  embarrassment  in  the  tempo- 
ral concerns  of  the  church,  and  other  measures  must  be 
devised  to  make  up  deficiencies  in  the  amount  required  to 
support  the  ministry.  It  is  a  general  observation,  if  the 
classes  were  better  attended,  we  would  find  little  difficulty 
in  meeting  current  expenses ;  or,  if  we  should  have  a  good 
revival  in  the  church,  the  members  would  come  up  to  their 
duty  in  this  respect.  This  is  undoubtedly  true.  And  the 
argument  in  favor  of  the  class-collections  is  greatly  strength- 

331 


332     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


ened  by  the  fact;  that  in  times  of  greatest  spiritual  prosper- 
ity in  the  church  the  classes  are  better  attended,  and  yield, 
a  larger  supply  for  temporal  demands.  For  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  the  sense  of  duty,  the  sentiment  of  gratitude,  interest 
in  the  temporal  welfare  of  the  church,  and  the  disposition 
to  support  its  ministers — in  a  word,  all  the  principles  and 
feelings  of  religion  that  prompt  to  the  devotion  of  temporal 
means  for  the  support  of  the  church — will  be  in  the  liveliest 
practical  exercise  in  times  of  greatest  spiritual  prosperity. 
Now  we  have  shown  that  the  principal  means  of  preserving 
and  improving  the  spirituality  of  the  church,  is  the  social 
institution  of  the  classes ;  and  then  the  argument  is  com- 
plete, that  the  best  method  to  raise  the  revenue  required  for 
the  temporal  support  of  the  church,  is  the  proper  regulation 
of  the  class-collections.  We  shall  now  mention  some  of  the 
advantages  of  this  mode  of  ministerial  support. 

1.  It  is  a  most  convenient  method,  probably  the  most 
convenient,  that  can  be  adopted.  When  met  in  class  from 
week  to  week,  each  member,  at  the  close  of  the  service,  can 
deposit  his  contribution  in  the  hands  of  the  leader,  and  the 
work  is  done.  This  is  the  arrangement  usually  observed  on 
the  stations',  and  the  same  rule  is  made  for  the  circuits.  It 
is  of  primary  importance,  however,  in  carrying  out  this  finan- 
cial arrangement,  that  each  member,  if  possible,  be  present 
at  every  meeting  of  his  class,  and  be  ready  for  the  weekly 
collection.  Some  members  prefer  to  pay  quarterly,  and  this 
is  done  to  some  extent  in  the  stations,  and  almost  universally 
on  the  circuits.  It  were  far  better,  however,  if  the  church 
universally,  or  as  far  as  practicable,  observed  the  weekly 
payments. 

2.  The  utmost  regularity  and  convenience  in  meeting  all 
the  pecuniary  wants  of  the  church  and  ministry  may  by 
this  method  be  secured.  Much  embarrassment  to  the 
stewards  and  preachers  would  hereby  be  avoided;  the  labors 
of  the  stewards  would  then  be  pleasant,  and  the  work  of  the 


EFFICIENCY  IN  SUPPORTING  THE  MINISTRY.  333 


preacher  rendered  the  more  agreeable  by  the  proper  adjust- 
ment of  all  his  financial  concerns.  But  if  few  attend  class, 
and  but  a  small  proportion  of  this  few  pay  weekly,  or  even 
quarterly,  then  what  trouble  to  the  leader  in  running  about 
town,  in  riding  over  the  country,  in  hunting  up  the  mem- 
bers on  public  occasions,  in  applying  to  them,  after  preach- 
ing, in  order  to  gather  up  funds  to  report  at  the  leaders' 
meeting,  or  at  the  approaching  quarterly  conference !  No 
wonder,  often  at  leaders'  meetings,  and  at  quarterly  confe- 
rences, when  financial  reports  are  called  for,  we  hear,  ^^no 
report/^  No  wonder,  in  many  places,  financial  matters  are 
in  a  languishing  and  wretched  condition  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  the  year,  and  from  year  to  year.  No  wonder, 
a  few  leading  persons  in  the  church  are  compelled,  in  many 
places,  to  bear  the  principal  part  of  the  burden  of  the  cur- 
rent expenses.  No  wonder  that  these  few  leading  persons, 
in  many  places,  are  unable  to  meet  the  current  expenses, 
and  large  deficiencies  are  sometimes  reported.  No  wonder, 
that  many  of  the  most  valuable  men  wish  sometimes  to  re- 
sign their  office  as  leaders  or  stewards ;  and  they  would  do 
so,  but  for  their  ardent  love  and  fealty  to  the  church.  No 
wonder  the  preacher  is  often  seriously  embarrassed  by  the 
long  delays  in  meeting  his  just  and  equitable  claims.  No 
wonder,  toward  the  end  of  the  year,  there  is  often  such  hard 
straining  and  wrenching  to  close  up  accounts.  And  yet  it 
is  a  wonder  that  all  these  troubles  and  difficulties,  and  many 
more,  should  exist,  when  they  might  all  be  prevented  by 
the  universal  observance  of  the  easy  and  convenient  regula- 
tion of  the  weekly  class-collections.  We  want  no  improve- 
ment in  our  financial  ,plan.  Let  the  church  everywhere 
observe  it  as  it  is.  Then  prosperity  and  contentment  will 
prevail  in  all  our  bounds. 

3.  It  provides  for  the  payment  of  the  annual  subscription 
of  each  member  in  small  amounts.  This  is  an  advantage 
of  no  small  moment.    A  small  sum,  at  regular  intervals. 


334     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


can  be  more  readily  and  conveniently  spared,  than  a  large 
amount  at  the  close  of  a  stated  term.  It  would  be  a  very 
easy  matter  for  any  one  of  small  means,  to  deduct  three,  or 
six,  or  twelve  cents  a  week,  and  pay  it  to  the  leader  weekly 
during  the  year.  But  it  is  a  very  difficult  matter  for  such 
a  one,  who  had  deferred  the  payment  till  the  close  of  the 
year,  then  to  aggregate  the  whole  subscription,  and  hand  it 
to  the  leader;  he  might  not  be  able  to  make  up  the  whole 
claim  at  this  time,  and  so  the  deficit  must  go  unpaid  alto- 
gether, as  he  had  not  laid  by  enough  during  the  year  for  the 
final  payment.  If  he  had  observed  the  weekly  rule,  he 
would  have  exercised  a  little  self-denial,  if  required  to  meet 
the  weekly  payment ;  but,  having  neglected  this  rule,  at  the 
close  of  the  year,  he  is  shorn  of  his  strength :  no  amount 
of  self-denial  can  enable  him  to  recover  his  lost  ground ;  he 
has  but  little  or  nothing  to  give ;  and  this  is  the  history  of 
tens  of  thousands  in  our  church.  Beside,  failure  or  misfor- 
tune in  some  form,  or  disappointment  in  obtaining  the  pay- 
ment of  debts  due  during  the  year,  may  render  it  imprac- 
ticable to  meet  the  whole  subscription  at  the  close  of  the 
year ;  but  these  embarrassments  might  not  have  prevented 
the  payment  of  the  whole  claim  in  the  weekly  proportions. 
Most  men  expend  all  they  make,  and  as  they  make  it, 
whether  it  be  little  or  much ;  and  the  more  they  make,  the 
more  wants  they  create,  so  that  they  never  have  any  thing  to 
spare  to  supply  the  wants  of  others ;  and  at  the  close  of  the 
year  they  have  nothing  to  spare  for  the  support  of  the 
church.  Probably  they  are  much  in  debt  at  the  close  of 
the  year ;  and  now  what  they  owe  to  the  church  must  be 
diverted  to  the  payment  of  this  debt.  But  had  they  met 
the  weekly  claim,  many  imaginary  wants  would  necessarily 
have  been  anticipated,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year,  not  only 
the  debt  due  to  the  church  would  have  been  paid,  but  debts 
to  others  avoided. 

The  wisdom  of  the  weekly  contributions  is  supported  by 


EFFICIENCY  IN  SUPPORTING  THE  MINISTRY.  335 


the  Scriptures.*  St.  Paul  prescribed  this  rule  for  the  church 
at  Corinth  and  the  churches  of  Gralatia.  Upon  the  first 
day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as 
God  hath  prospered  him,  that  there  be  no  gatherings  when 
I  come.^'f  First,  the  contribution  was  weekly.  Secondly, 
this  duty  was  enjoined  upon  every  member.  Thirdly,  the 
contribution  by  each  was  to  be  proportioned  to  his  ability. 
And  fourthly,  all  this  was  to  avoid  the  trouble  and  confu- 
sion, if  not  the  impossibility,  of  collecting  the  aggregate 
gatherings upon  the  apostle^s  arrival.  This  is  a  wise 
and  beautiful  system  of  inspiration.  Every  member  of  the 
church,  even  the  poorest,  who  is  not  on  the  poor-list,  can 
do  something,  if  it  be  but  a  very  little. 

The  wisdom  of  this  financial  regulation  will  be  evident 
from  a  further  consideration.  Suppose  each  member  of  a 
circuit,  or  station,  numbering  three  hundred,  contribute 
three  cents  a  week  :  the  annual  contribution  of  each  is  $1.56, 
and  the  sum  total,  annually,  $468.00;  if  each  member  con- 
tribute weekly  six  cents,  the  annual  contribution  of  each  is 
$3.12,  and  the  sum  total,  annually,  $936.00 :  an  amount 
sufficient  to  meet  the  annual  expenses  of  some  of  our  largest 
circuits.  If  we  suppose  the  circuit  to  embrace  six  hundred 
members,  then,  at  three  cents  a  member  weekly,  the  annual 
contribution  of  each  is  $1.56,  and  the  sum  total,  annually, 
is  $936.00 ;  and  at  six  cents  a  member  weekly,  the  annual 
contribution  of  each  is  $3.12,  and  the  sum  total,  annually, 
is  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two  dollars :  and 


*  This  plan  of  voluntary  weekly  contributions  for  the  support  of  tho 
ministry  appears  to  have  continued  from  the  apostles'  days  till  the  reign 
of  Constantino,  who  substituted  the  exaction  of  tithes  by  civil  enactment, 
which  became  a  grevious  curse,  in  holding  out  the  allurements  of  affluence, 
ease,  and  honor  to  a  corrupt  and  worldly  ministry.  This  plan  of  tho 
weekly  contributions  was  revive(f  by  Mr.  Wesley,  and  is  kept  up  in  the 
Wesleyan  connection  to  this  day. 

t  1  Cor.  xvi.  2. 


336     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OP  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


wtat  a  large  surplus  have  we  here  from  such  a  circuit !  If 
we  suppose  the  circuit  to  embrace  one  thousand  members, 
at  three  cents  a  member  weekly,  the  annual  contribution  of 
each  is  $1.56,  and  the  sum  total,  annually,  is  one  thousand 
Jive  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  ;  and  at  six  cents  a  member 
weekly,  the  annual  contribution  of  each  is  $3.12,  and  the 
sum  total,  annually,  is  three  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars :  and  what  an  immense  surplus  have  we  here  from 
such  a  circuit!  In  these  calculations  it  is  supposed  that 
every  member  pay  promptly  and  punctually  his  weekly  con- 
tribution. But  then  there  are  a  few,  though  very  few,  who 
are  unable  to  contribute  any  thing  ]  and  there  are  many  who 
are  able  to  contribute  these  small  amounts,  and  yet  fail  to  do 
it ;  and  there  are  many  who  are  able  to  contribute  much  more 
than  these  small  amounts,  and  yet  who  contribute  nothing ; 
and  there  are  some  embraced  in  the  assessment  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  year,  who  die  or  remove  during  the  year ; 
and  there  are  also  others  embraced  likewise  in  the  assessment, 
who  backslide  during  the  year;  and  others  still,  who,  though 
included  in  the  general  estimate,  cannot  be  found.  All  these 
make  a  considerable  difference  in  the  general  result.  And 
hence,  ordinarily,  if  not  universally,  many  have  to  pay  some- 
thing more  than  their  ^ro  rata  share,  and  a  few  much  more 
than  their  pro  rata  share  of  the  current  expenses.  But 
then,  if  the  rule  were  generally  applied  on  the  larger  cir- 
cuits and  stations,  the  large  surplus  above  would  more  than 
meet  these  delinquencies  and  deficiencies.  That  is,  put 
down  the  aggregate,  as  above,  at  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  seventy-two  dollars,  or  at  three  thousand  one  hundred 
and  twenty  dollars ;  and  upon  the  supposition,  that  in  the 
former  case  the  sum  total  of  expenses  is  twelve  hundred 
dollars,  which  is  a  fair  estimate  for  these  times,  and  we 
have  six  hundred  and  seventy-two  dollars  to  spare  for  the 
delinquencies  and  deficiencies;  and  in  the  latter  case,  putting 
down  the  sum  total  of  expenses  at  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 


EFFICIENCY  IN  SUPPORTING  THE  MINISTRY.  337 


we  have  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  to  spare  for  de- 
linquencies and  deficiencies.  Thus,  in  the  first  case,  let  but 
two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  members  pay  each  six 
cents  per  week,  and  in  the  second  case,  let  but  half  of  the 
whole  number  of  members  pay  each  six  cents  per  week,  and 
the  total  amount  of  current  expenses  in  each  case  can  be 
easily  and  liberally  met. 

Some  old  and  experienced  financier  may  smile  at  this, 
and  say,  This  all  looks  well  enough  on  paper,  but  how  is  it 
to  be  practically  carried  out  V  True,  other  modes  of  rais- 
ing supplies  have  so  long  been  applied — modes  that  unfor- 
tunately have  been  adopted  under  the  urgency  and  necessity 
of  circumstances,  and  the  people  consequently  contracted 
habits  which  it  will  be  hard  now  to  break — that  it  will  be 
difficult  at  first  to  bring  about  the  general  application  of  the 
weekly  class-collections.  But  industry,  firmness,  perseve- 
rance, patience,  and  concert  of  action  in  the  official  members 
of  the  church — qualifications  that  every  official  member  should 
possess,  and  without  which  no  financial  system,  however  ex- 
cellent, will  long  work  well — will,  in  a  short  time,  effect  it. 
It  may  not  be  efiected  fully  the  first  year  or  two,  but  then 
the  result  at  first  will  be  so  encouraging,  the  difference  in 
financial  matters  will  be  so  manifest,  that  both  the  people 
and  official  members  will  redouble  their  diligence  to  accom- 
plish complete  success.  The  burden  of  bearing  the  current 
expenses  will  then  be  equalized.  The  financial  machinery 
will  then  move  like  a  beautiful  piece  of  exact  clock-work, 
and  wind  up  the  financial  affairs  of  the  circuit  or  station 
with  as  much  accuracy  annually  as  the  sun  itself  completes 
the  year.  Those  who  are  able  to  give  more  than  their 
weekly  proportion,  will  contribute  it  to  conference  and  mis- 
sionary objects,  and  other  noble  and  benevolent  interests  of 
the  church,  such  as  the  Bible,  Sunday-School,  and  Tract 
Societies,  the  building  of  churches  and  parsonages,  furnish- 
ing parsonages,  and  payiAg  off  church  and  parsonage  debts. 

29 


338       TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 

And  pJl  the  advantages  which  we  have  mentioned  on  a  pre- 
ceding page  would  follow,  because  then  all  the  resources  with 
which  the  Methodist  Church  is  invested  would  be  applied. 

In  the  smaller  stations  and  circuits,  however,  the  weekly 
contribution  must  be  larger,  because  the  number  of  mem- 
bers is  smaller.  Increase  the  per  cent,  per  week,  and  the 
work  is  done.  Say  one  hundi-ed  members  at  ten  cents  each 
per  week;  the  annual  subscription  of  each  member  is  §5.20, 
and  the  sum  total  is  five  Jiundred  and  ticeniy  dollars.  At 
two  hundred  members,  the  sum  total  is  one  tJwusand  and 
forty  dollars — an  amount  sufficient  to  meet  all  the  current 
expenses.  Even  when  the  station  numbers  less  than  a 
hundred,  the  wisest  regulation  to  raise  supplies  is  the  one 
for  which  we  plead.  Difficult  as  it  must  be,  ordinarily,  for 
a  small  station  to  support  itself,  the  best  plan  to  do  it  is  that 
of  the  weekly  contributions.  And  it  is  worthy  of  observa- 
tion, difficult  as  it  is  for  the  smaller  stations  and  circuits  to 
support  themselves,  they  nevertheless  square  up  their  ac- 
counts at  the  end  of  the  year,  and,  besides,  contribute  very 
creditably  to  the  common  interests  of  the  church.  And 
yet  we  are  by  no  means  in  favor,  in  all  cases,  of  cutting  up 
the  work  into  these  small  fields  of  labor,  because,  among 
other  substantial  reasons,  we  have  not  always  the  proper  men 
to  spare  for  them,  and  generally  it  will  be  found  that  de- 
clension dates  with  the  commencement  of  the  experiment. 
This  remark  is  applicable  principally  to  the  smaller  villages  : 
in  growing  villages,  and  larger  towns  and  cities,  it  is  dif- 
ferent; for  in  these  the  multiplication  of  churches  is  the 
natui*al  tendency  of  aggressive  Methodism,  the  practical 
effect  of  one  of  the  elements  of  an  itinerant  church. 

4.  It  preserves  a  lively  sense  in  every  member  of  his  re- 
sponsibility to  contribute  what  he  can  to  support  the  church. 
Every  week  he  is  reminded  of  this  duty,  and  so  every  week 
he  will  feel  urged  to  make  provisions  to  discharge  it.  Under 
this  regulation  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  long  to  neglect 


EFFICIENCY  IN  SUPPORTING  THE  MINISTRY.  339 


the  payment  of  his  weekly  contribution,  without  a  painful 
sense  of  delinquency.  Here  no  one  can  be  lost  in  the 
crowd.  It  is  a  very  easy  matter  for  any  one  who  habitually 
neglects  his  class  meeting,  to  neglect  also  his  duty  to  con- 
tribute to  the  support  of  the  church.  He  who  derives  but 
little  spiritual  advantage  from  association  with  the  church 
will  feel  but  a  feeble  concern  in  its  temporal  affairs,  and  the 
year  will  pass  away  with  him  as  it  does  with  the  world. 
He  has  received  comparatively  nothing — ^he  gives  compara- 
tively nothing.  But  he  who  is  in  the  daily  enjoyment  of 
religion,  and  obtains  spiritual  blessings  in  the  habitual  ob- 
servance of  the  class  meeting,  will  feel  a  corresponding 
interest  in  the  temporal  prosperity  of  his  church,  and  the 
temporal  comfort  of  his  pastor.  When  men  are  happiest  in 
religion,  they  are  always  most  liberal  and  cheerful  in  giving, 
and  hence  it  is  that  "  the  Lord  loveth  a  cheerful  giver.'' 
Let,  then,  the  class  meeting  be  universally  observed  by  our 
church,  and  the  treasury  of  the  Lord  will  be  overflowing 
from  year  to  year.  Every  week  a  twofold  responsibility 
recurs,  and  thus  one  duty  enforces  the  other.  If  I  neglect 
my  class,  I  neglect  both  duties  :  I  suffer  loss  myself,  and 
neglect  the  temporal  wants  of  the  church  and  ministry  at 
the  same  time. 

5.  Method  should  be  most  strictly  observed,  as  it  can  be 
ordinarily  done,  especially  on  the  stations.  First,  the  time 
to  be  observed  when  the  contribution  ought  to  be  laid  aside 
in  store — the  first  day  in  the  week  3"  and  secondly,  the 
amount — as  God  hath  prospered  us.''  One  may  give  occa- 
sionally, liberally,  and  cheerfully,  and  yet  very  irregularly. 
Any  deviation  from  this  scriptural  rule  must  be  attended 
with  more  or  less  of  inconvenience.  This  rule  is  admirably 
adapted  to  the  poorer  classes,  who  ordinarily  receive  the 
fruit  of  their  labors  at  the  close  of  the  week;  and  even 
those  who  receive  their  income  monthly,  or  annually,  may 
easily  divide  the  sum  into  the  weekly  proportions.    The  rule 


840     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


is  therefore  applicable  to  both  circuits  and  stations,  and  to 
all  who  know  with  sufficient  certainty  what  is  their  weekly, 
monthly,  or  annual  income. 

6.  All  should  give  something ;  that  is,  according  to  their 
ability  respectively.  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  let 
every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store  as  God  hath  prospered 
him.'^*  The  apostle  makes  no  exception  in  the  case  of  the 
poor;  for  he  knew  it  was  required,  "None  shall  appear  before 
me  empty;^^f  and  again,  They  shall  not  appear  before  the 
Lord  empty.  Every  man  shall  give  as  he  is  able;  accord- 
ing to  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  he  hath  given 
thee. J  And  David  is  a  good  example  :  "  Neither  will  I 
offer  burnt-offerings  unto  the  Lord  my  God  of  that  which 
doth  cost  me  nothing.^^§ 

7.  Young  converts  should  be  early  taught  the  duty  of 
giving.  It  is  not  what  others  do  that  is  to  guide  them, 
but  because  it  is  a  plain  and  positive  duty  to  give  "  as  God 
hath  prospered  them.^'  They  should  commence  the  dis- 
charge of  this  duty  with  the  week  of  their  conversion,  that 
their  profession  may  become  permanent;  that  they  may  be- 
come cheerful  givers,  such  as  the  Lord  loveth,  and  that  they 
may  not  contract  the  evil  habit  of  indifference  to  the  tempo- 
ral wants  of  the  church  and  ministry.  A  right  zeal  in  this 
respect  will  lead  to  a  regular  and  rapid  growth  in  grace. 
"  For  Zion's  sake  th^y  will  not  hold  their  peace,  and  for 
Jerusalem's  sake  they  will  not  rest,  till  the  righteousness 
thereof  go  forth  as  brightness,  and  the  salvation  thereof  as 
a  lamp  that  burneth.^^||  The  many  precious  promises  made 
to  the  cheerful,  liberal  giver,  are  all  fulfilled  in  due  time  in 
them.  The  blessing  of  God  is  conferred  on  what  is  left, 
and  "  no  good  thing  is  withheld  from  them.'' 


1  Cor.  xvi.  2.  t  ^^x.  xxiii.  15.  i  Deut.  xvi.  16,  17. 

§  2  Sam.  xxiv.  24.  ||  Isa.  Ixii.  1. 


EFFICIENCY  IN  SUPPORTING  THE  MINISTRY.  341 


"He  everywhere  hath  way, 

And  all  things  serve  his  might ; 
His  every  act  pure  blessing  is, 
His  path  unsullied  light/' 

God  will  remember  his  friends  in  "  the  time  of  trouble/' 
and,  as  in  the  case  of  Job,  deliver  them ;  and,  if  need  be,  give 
them  twice  as  much  as  they  had  before.  The  blessing  of 
Grod  extends  to  their  posterity :  The  generation  of  the  up- 
right shall  be  blessed.^'* 


*  Ps.  cxii.  2. 


CHAPTER  III. 


DUTIES  OF  SAVING  AND  GIVING. 

We  shall  devote  a  chapter  to  tlie  duties  of  saving  and 
giving  money. 

1.  The  duty  of  saving  money.  Every  Christian  is  under 
obligation  to  provide  for  himself,  and,  if  he  be  the  head  of  a 
family,  to  provide  for  his  family.  But  the  obligation  to 
provide  for  himself  and  family  does  not  extend  to  useless 
expenditure,  or  extravagance  and  excess  in  any  form.  Com- 
fort and  enjoyment  may  be  purchased  with  money,  but  no 
man  is  justified  in  spending  money  in  supporting  useless  in- 
dulgences, in  purchasing  pleasures  and  amusements  in  order 
to  pass  the  time,  in  prodigality,  and  in  exchange  for  the 
fashions  and  blandishments  of  the  world.  Every  Christian, 
in  his  objects  to  save  money,  is  not  only  to  guard  the  honesty, 
frugality,  industry,  morality,  temperance,  and  benevolence 
of  his  family,  and  so  avoid  leading  his  children  and  servants 
into  temptation,  but  he  is  to  practise  them  himself,  and  in- 
sist upon  their  practice  by  all  under  his  charge,  that  he  and 
they  may  be  enabled  to  save  as  much  as  possible  for  pious 
objects. 

Nor  is  any  one  justified  in  concluding  that  he  has  saved 
all  he  ought  to  save,  when  he  has  been  at  no  cost  of  self- 
denial.  Self-denial  is  a  Christian  duty,  and  every  Christian 
should  practise  it,  that  he  may  give  the  more  :  and  the  same 
duty  and  object  he  should  enforce  on  all  under  his  control. 
This  will  add  immensely,  not  only  to  his  means  of  giving, 
but  both  to  spiritual  and  physical  enjoyments  in  this  life, 
and  the  glory  of  the  life  to  come.  The  vain,  superficial, 
342 


DUTIES  OP  SAVING  AND  GIVING. 


US 


evanescent  emotions  of  pleasure,  splendor,  and  wealth,  should 
be  anticipated  and  suppressed,  that  we  may  save  to  con- 
tribute to  the  alleviation  of  the  misery  and  misfortune  of 
our  fellow- creatures,  and  the  adequate  support  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ. 

2.  Duty  of  giving.  No  man  has  a  right  to  commence 
saving  till  all  his  just  debts  are  paid.  By  debts,  we  do  not 
mean  merely  those  due  on  note,  or  bond,  or  mortgage,  or 
book-account;  but  those  also  arising  from  parental  obliga- 
tions, relations  to  society  at  large,  and  to  God.  Charity  is 
a  solemn  debt,  from  which  no  man  can  be  excused  except 
by  absolute  physical  inability  to  discharge  it.  As  in  the 
world  all  men  should  bear  their  share  in  the  burdens  of 
society — that  is,  should  contribute  their  proportion  to  the 
alleviation  of  human  want,  and  the  maintenance  and  promo- 
tion of  human  happiness  and  prosperity ;  so  in  the  church 
every  individual  member  is  under  the  most  solemn  and  im- 
perious obligation  to  contribute  his  due  proportion  in  sup- 
porting the  great  interests  of  the  church,  and  enlarging  his 
Maker's  kingdom  among  men.  No  Christian  has  any  right 
to  save  one  cent  till  he  shall  have  done  this ;  much  less  has 
he  the  right  to  add  his  annual  profits  to  his  original  capital 
for  future  benevolent  objects;  and  far  less  has  he  the  right 
to  expend  his  annual  profits  to  attach  an  artifical  dignity  to 
his  station,  and  surround  his  family  and  friends  with  the 
pomp  and  luxuries  of  affluence  and  ease.  No  man  has  the 
right  to  set  up  the  demands  of  extravagance  and  selfishness 
in  competition  with  the  requirements  of  religion  and  phi- 
lanthropy. Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon.^'  No 
man  can  be  a  Christian  who  does  not  devote  a  just  propor- 
tion of  his  superfluous  wealth  annually  to  the  cause  of 
religion  and  philanthropy,  and  no  one  ought  to  assume  the 
name  of  Christian  who  does  not  do  it. 

The  rules  and  principles  that  apply  to  the  getting  of 
money  should  not  be  applied  to  the  giving  of  money,  for 


344     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


their  every  profit  will  be  saved,  and  nothing  be  given.  With 
unremitted  industry,  let  every  Christian  make  all  the  money 
he  can,  and  then  beware  lest  he  make  an  improper  use  of 
it.  It  is  inconsistent  to  assume  that  a  Christian  should 
restrict  the  acquisition  of  money  property  to  the  bare  limit 
of  his  wants,  and  then  demand  of  him  an  amount  of  cha- 
rity when  he  has  nothing  to  give.  It  is  extravagant  to  de- 
claim disparagingly  against  secular  business  and  enterprises, 
and  then  present  a  charity  bill  which  cannot  be  met  without 
the  large  profits  of  a  successful  year.  We  would  do  otherwise : 
we  would  say  to  men  of  business  in  the  church,  Devote 
yourselves  energetically  to  the  substantial  improvement  of 
your  fortunes — inspect  keenly  and  closely  the  world^s  expe- 
rience for  facts  and  principles,  that  will  help  you  to  be 
more  successful  in  your  undertakings — define  precisely  and 
carefully  the  bounds  within  which  you  may  advance  safely, 
and  beyond  which  there  is  danger — be  ready  with  rules 
that  shall  be  applicable  to  specific  and  individual  cases  as 
they  arise — be  patient,  devout,  composed,  and  watchful  in 
your  journey  along  the  thorny  and  devious  path  of  business 
— arouse  all  your  energy  to  the  most  exalted  achievements 
both  in  business  and  in  religion — ^learn  the  happy  arts  of 
getting  the  most  money  with  the .  least  risk  and  anxiety, 
and  of  using  it  so  as  to  accomplish  the  greatest  amount  of 
good  both  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men — remembering 
all  the  time  that  you  have  no  right  to  save  any  thing  beyond 
your  necessary  wants,  till  you  have  paid  all  your  first  debts 
to  man  and  God. 

3.  But  what  is  the  rule  of  contributions  to  effect  the 
greatest  amount  of  good  ?  It  is  not  that  a  man  must  give 
more  than  is  in  proportion  to  his  income.  It  is  not  that 
he  must  give  all  to  public  institutions,  and  nothing  to  cha- 
ritable purposes.  It  is  not  that  he  shall  give  all  to  one 
charitable  object,  to  the  entire  neglect  of  all  the  rest.  It 
is  not  that  he  shall  give  to  all  indiscriminately.    It  is  to 


DUTIES  OF  SAVING  AND  GIVING. 


345 


give,  if  we  have  it,  something  to  every  worthy  object,  and 
most  to  the  most  worthy  object;  and  if  we  have  but  little 
to  spare,  it  should  all  be  given  to  the  most  worthy  objects, 
especially  those  which  depend  immediately  upon  us  for 
support.    This  is  the  general  rule. 

But  there  are  particular  rules.  First :  we  should  give 
not  only  that  for  which  we  have  no  necessary  use,  but  also 
the  amount  arising  from  self-denial.  Every  Christian,  if 
he  is  able  without  self-denial  to  do  it,  should  give  something, 
and  he  should  use  self-denial  that  he  may  give  the  more ; 
and  if  he  is  able  to  give  nothing  without  self-denial,  he 
should  exercise  it  that  he  may  give  something.  The  poorest 
IS  able  to  give  something.  The  universal  aplication  of  this 
rule  would  not  only  liberally  support  all  the  great  interests 
of  the  church,  but  enable  the  church  to  enlarge  incalculably 
her  enterprises  to  save  the  world.  Secondly  :  set  a  real 
value  upon  money.  What  a  thing  costs  is  not  always  the 
true  measure  of  its  worth;  as,  for  example,  a  pleasure  may 
be  purchased  that  is  destructive  either  to  soul  or  body,  or 
to  both,  or  hurtful  in  its  influence  upon  others,  or  connected 
witb  evil  consequences,  either  immediate  or  remote.  The 
proper  use  of  money  is  the  greatest  amount  of  real  happiness 
it  is  made  to  purchase,  and  this  is  its  true  value.  And  by 
as  much  as  a  man  is  able  to  give  for  this  great  object,  is  he 
responsible  for  the  use  of  money.  Not  one  centos  less  of 
this  amount  is  Ms  own.  The  widow''  could  spare  the 
"  mite,^'  and  it  was  her  duty  to  give  it.  I  doubt  whether 
there  is  one  in  the  Methodist  Church  who  is  poorer  than  was 
this  widow.  And  as  to  the  rich  in  the  church,  who  of  a 
thousand  has  set  the  proper  value  upon  his  money?  Thirdly : 
giving  should  be  founded  upon  religious  principles.  Gene- 
rosity may  be  confounded  with  piety,  and  selfishness  with 
charity.  Thus,  charity  dinners,  charity  fairs,  charity  '^be- 
nefits," proceed  upon  false  principles  and  feelings,  in  which 
no  compassionate  emotions  are  mingled,  and  for  the  pro- 


346     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


ceeds  of  wliich  no  truly  grateful  feelings  are  felt  by  those 
wlio  receive  them.  They  are  but  the  paroxysms  of  a  sickly 
morality  in  the  world,  and  a  morbid  piety  in  the  church. 
They  are  occasions  of  levity,  frivolity,  pageantry,  and  vanity 
among  the  young  people ;  of  quarrels  often  among  the 
sisters  of  charity/'  of  lasting  differences  among  the  be- 
nevolent managers,' '  by  which  parties  are  formed  and 
divisions  created  in  the  church;  of  patronizing  worldly 
fashion,  for  the  most  fashionable  articles  must  be  prepared 
for  sale ;  in  a  word,  of  producing  more  moral  evil  to  the 
church  than  the  good  that  is  accomplished  by  the  most  suc- 
cessful sales,  and  the  wisest  appropriation  of  the  proceeds. 
They  are  corruptions  of  charity,  for  that  is  not  true  charity 
which  may  be  feasted  away  at  a  dinner,  or  dissipated  at  a 
fair,  or  expended  in  self-indulgence,  or  accompanied  neces- 
sarily with  abuse.  A  theatrical  "  benefit''  for  some  "  be- 
nevolent association,"  is  nothing  more  than  a  measure  of 
dissembled  charity  to  captivate  the  religious  sympathies 
common  to  our  nature,  disguise  the  vice  of  the  theatre,  pal- 
liate its  odium,  and  so  allure  a  more  extensive  patronage. 
The  charity  benefits"  of  Jenny  Lind  were  doubtless  but 
the  deep-laid  schemes  of  the  selfish  and  wily  Barnum. 
Every  measure  of  the  kind  is  but  a  consecration  of  amuse- 
ment to  the  desecration  of  duty  and  the  destruction  of  spi- 
rituality. Give  the  value  of  what  you  would  contribute  for 
the  fair  to  the  object  proposed,  and  so  avoid  the  evils  of  the 
occasion;  or  give  to  the  object  proposed  what  you  would 
pay  for  the  articles  at  the  fair,  and  so  reach  the  object  by 
the  proper  path.  It  is  probable  many  exercise  self-denial, 
or  practise  retrenchment  to  some  extent,  to  support  a  fair : 
let  this  be  done  without  the  medium  of  a  fair.  In  a  word, 
let  giving,  in  every  case,  be  founded  upon  strictly  religious 
feelings  and  principles,  and  the  aggregate  result  will  far 
transcend  the  nett  profits  of  the  most  successful  fair.  If 
we  have,  in  the  remotest  manner,,  heretofore  patronized 


DUTIES  OP  SAVING  AND  GIVING. 


347 


'methods  of  this  kind  to  raise  money  for  the  objects  of  the 
church,  in  future  let  us  oppose  them  without  connivance 
and  without  compromise. 

4.  Appeal  to  the  rich  who  give  but  little.  Ye  nominal 
Methodists  who  are  rich  in  this  world^s  goods,  what  do  ye 
know  of  self-denial  and  almsgiving  ?  What  does  your 
religion  cost  you  ?  What  do  you  give  for  the  relief  of  the 
poor,  and  for  the  glory  of  God,  rather  than  for  your  own 
reputation  ?  When  you  were  poor,  you  gave,  and  you  be- 
came rich  in  spiritual  things ;  but,  since  you  became  rich  in 
the  world,  you  have  become  poor  in  spiritual  things  :  and 
now  you  know  the  whole  meaning  of  the  sayings  of  Solo- 
mon :  "There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet  increaseth ;  and 
there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  but  it  tendeth 
to  poverty :  There  is  that  maketh  himself  rich,  yet  hath 
nothing ;  there  is  that  maketh  himself  poor,  yet  hath  great 
riches. Ye  have  sat  before  the  holy  communion,  and 
heard  again  and  again  the  minister  read,  "  Charge  them 
that  are  rich  in  this  world,  that  they  be  ready  to  distribute, 
willing  to  communicate,  laying  up  in  store  for  themselves  a 
good  foundation  against  the  time  to  come,  that  they  may 
lay  hold  on  eternal  life,^^ — and  the  charge  has  extorted  from 
you  a  few  pence.  "  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your 
work  and  labour  of  love,  which  ye  have  showed  toward  his 
name,  in  that  ye  ministered  to  his  saints,  and  do  minister;'' 
and  God  has  but  little  to  remember  in   your  behalf. 

Whoso  hath  this  world^s  goods,  and  seeth  his  brother 
have  need,  and  shutteth  up  his  bowels  of  compassion  from 
him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in  him  — there  St. 
John  spoke  to  thee.  "He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor, 
lendeth  unto  the  Lord ;  and  that  which  he  hath  given  will 
he  pay  him  again'' — and  the  Lord  owes  you  but  a  few  cents. 
"  Blessed  is  he  that  considereth  the  poor ;  the  Lord  will 
deliver  him  in  time  of  trouble," — but  if  you  are  ever  deli- 
vered out  of  trouble,  it  will  never  be  upon  thia  ground* 


348     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


And  you  gave  your  pittance — with  the  thunder  of  St.  James 
ringing  in  your  ears — Go  to  now,  ye  rich  men,  weep  and 
howl  for  your  miseries  that  shall  come  upon  you.  Your  riches 
are  corrupted,  and  your  garments  are  moth-eaten.  Your 
gold  and  silver  is  cankered ;  and  the  rust  of  them  shall  be 
a  witness  against  you'' — and  what  a  witness  ! — and  shall 
eat  your  flesh  as  it  were  fire'^ — and  what  a  suffering  !  "Ye 
have  heaped  treasures  together  for  the  la^t  days^^ — and  they 
shall  come.  You  gave  your  pittance — and  you  arose — and 
knelt  at  the  holy  altar,  and  received  into  your  hands  and 
lips  the  emblems  of  that  sacrifice  that  obtained  so  much  for 
you,  and  for  whose  poor  you  had  just  sacrificed  so  little ! 
How  can  you  look  the  poor  in  the  face  when  you  meet  them 
daily  ?  How  can  you  look  Christ  in  the  face  when  you  meet 
him  at  the  judgment,  whose  fires  then  will  consume  both 
your  riches  and  your  soul  ? 

Is  this  your  case  ?  Can  you  be  made  to  believe  it  ?  Let 
us  see.  We  will  leave  the  house  of  God,  and  follow  you 
home,  and  make  the  investigation  there,  and  now  what  have 
we  ?  Are  your  tables  loaded  with  every  delicacy  and  sweet 
the  seasons  and  the  markets,  at  home  and  abroad,  can  con- 
tribute, or  money  can  purchase,  or  skill  can  heighten,  and 
do  you  give  but  a  few  fragments,  if  them,  to  feed  the  poor 
at  youic  gate  ?  Are  your  wardrobes  supplied  with  every 
variety  of  costly  dress  and  rich  apparel  ever-shifting  fashion 
may  suggest  to  the  insatiable  taste  of  your  families,  and  yet 
furnish  scarcely  a  rag  of  clothing  to  the  needy  in  the  hovel 
over  the  way  ?  Have  you  built  for  yourself  a  splendid 
mansion,  and  adorned  it  with  elegant  paintings,  and  gorgeous 
carpeting,  and  beautiful  statuary,  and  furniture  of  the  latest 
style,  while  the  poor  man  near  you  has  scarcely  a  chair  to 
sit  on,  or  a  bed  to  lie  on  ?  Are  your  gardens  and  lawns 
beautified  with  shrub,  and  flower,  and  fruit,  interlaced  with 
gravel  walks,  and  winding  hedges,  and  balmy  with  breeze 
and  fragrance,  while  the  widow  and  orphan  on  the  hill-side 


DUTIES  OF  SAVING  AND  GIVING. 


849 


have  scarcely  corn  enougli  to  make  poverty  tolerable,  or  a 
tree  to  shade  them  from  the  heat  of  summer  ?  Are  your 
parlors  illuminated  with  a  blazing  resplendence  for  the  re- 
ception of  the  rich,  and  vocal  with  the  song  and  the  laugh 
of  the  fashionable,  and  animated  with  the  courtesies  of  the 
gay,  and  noisy  with  the  refinement  of  carousal  and  revelry, 
while  the  hut  in  the  vale  is  dark  at  eventide,  and  the  cry 
of  distress  is  unheard  in  the  daytime,  and  prayer  for  relief 
and  thanksgiving  for  help  are  never  enrolled  in  God's  holy 
book  of  remembrance  in  association  with  your  benefactions  ? 
We  will  follow  you  a  step  farther,  and  accompany  you  to 
the  grave.  The  expenses  of  the  funeral,  and  expenditure 
for  monumental  marble  and  sepulchral  embellishments,  it 
may  be,  will  be  equal  to  a  small  fortune,  amounting  to  more 
in  celebrating  your  life  and  death  than  you  had  expended 
in  your  whole  lifetime  in  deeds  of  piety  and  charity.  Re- 
lax your  clinched  hand  upon  gold  and  silver,  or  death  will 
do  it.  You  are  not  as  rich  in  gold  and  silver  now  as  you 
might  have  been  had  you  invested  large  amounts  in  church-- 
stocks.  Had  you  wisely  and  properly  proportioned  your 
charities  to  the  claims  of  the  church  and  piety,  this  very 
hour,  we  repeat,  you  would  have  become  a  richer  man  tem- 
porally than  you  are — and  spiritually  you  would  be  rich 
indeed.  Then  you  have,  for  once,  calculated  badly  in  tem- 
poral matters — not  that  riches  should  have  entered  into 
your  motives  of  charity — but  such  is  the  temporal  result. 
So  you  are  the  poorer  for  the  want  of  charity.  And  as  to 
spiritual  things — your  spiritual  fortunes — ye  rich,  nominal, 
penurious  Methodists — ye  are  poor  indeed — ye  are.  naked — 
ye  are  in  want  of  all  things.  Strike  the  balance  quickly 
with  God,  or  perish. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


OBJECTIONS  TO  GIVING  CONSIDERED. 

1.  It  is  vain  to  say  you  have  nothing  to  give  to  support 
the  gospel — nothing  to  spare  from  your  necessary  expendi- 
tures. You  can  spare  a  small  sum  weekly.  You  will  be 
astonished  at  the  aggregate  amount  of  daily  expenditures 
of  small  sums,  compounded  with  interest,  and  summed  up 
at  the  termination  of  any  given  period,  as  exhibited  in  the 
following  abstract  from  the  Annuity  Tables  in  familiar  use 
in  Jhe  offices  of  Life  Insurance  Companies : — 


TABLE  SHOWING  THE  AGGREGATE  VALUE,  WITH  COMPOUND 
INTEREST. 


Daily  Expenses. 

In  10 

In  20 

In  30 

In  40 

In  50 

years. 

years. 

years. 

years. 

years. 

21 

cents  a  day 

or  $10  a  year, 

$130 

$360 

$790 

$1,540 

$2,900 

20 

260 

720 

1,580 
2,370 

3,080 

5,800 

8i 

i( 

a 

30  " 

390 

1,080 

4,620 

8,700 

11 

i( 

(( 

40  " 

520 

1,440 

3,160 

5,160 
7,700 

11,600 

131 

a 

(( 

50  " 

650 

1,860 

3,950 
7,900 

14,500 

27^ 

u 

(( 

100  " 

1,300 

3,600 
7,200 

15,400 

29,000 

55 

a 

a 

200  " 

2,600 

15,800 

30,800 

58,000 

82^ 

a 

(( 

300 

3,900 

10,800 

23,800 

46,200 

87,000 

$1.10 

ti 

(( 

400  " 

5,200 

14,400 

31,600 

51,600 

116,000 

1.37 

(( 

u 

500 

6,500 

18,000 

39,500 

77,000 

145,000 

Thus  a  laboring  man,  mechanic,  or  farmer,  by  saving  only 
2|  cents  per  day  from  the  time  he  comes  of  age  till  he  is 
seventy  years  of  age,  the  aggregate,  with  interest,  amounts 
to  $2,900;  and  a  daily  saving  of  21 J  cents  amounts  to  the 
important  sum  of  $27,000.  Six  cents,  so  saved  daily,  would 
provijie  a  fund  of  nearly  $7,000,  sufficient  to  purchase  a  fine 
fyr%  The  man  who  lays  by  about  a  dollar  per  day,  on  the 
above  principle,  will  find  himself  possessed  of  $116,000, 

350 


OBJECTIONS  TO  GIVING  CONSIDERED. 


851 


and  thus  be  a  rich  man  in  a  worldly  sense.  There  are  few, 
very  few,  who  cannot  save  daily,  by  abstaining  from  the  use 
of  tobacco,  the  moderate  use  of  ardent  spirits,  useless  indul- 
gence, unnecessary  personal  and  household  expenses,  and 
extravagance  of  every  kind,  at  least  six  cents,  and  perhaps 
twice  or  thrice  that  amount ;  and  thus  in  time  not  only  be- 
come rich,  but  all  the  time  be  able  to  contribute  something 
to  support  the  church.  Every  poor  man  thus  can  do  much 
for  the  church,  and  none  is  justified  in  neglecting  this  duty. 
But  what  shall  be  said  of  those  merchants  in  our  cities  with 
whom  four  thousand  dollars  a  year  is  not  an  uncommon  ex- 
penditure ?  with  whom,  fifty  years  ago,  five  hundred  dollars 
would  have  been  regarded  as  a  sufficient  expenditure.  The 
difierence  between  these  two  amounts  for  fifty  years,  with 
compound  interest,  accumulates  to  the  enormous  sum  of 
over  one  million  of  dollars,  and  extend  the  time  eleven  years, 
and  this  sum  becomes  doubled.  And  yet  how  little,  compa- 
ratively, do  the  rich  give  to  support  the  church !  and  how 
generally  prevalent  is  an  unrestricted  indulgence  in  showy 
habits  of  dress  and  living,  which  is  the  principal  cause  of 
the  failure  of  nine-tenths  of  the  men  who  embark  in  busi- 
ness! Instead  of  combining  industry  with  economy  and 
moderation,  and  so  restricting  expenditures  to  necessary 
wants,  that  they  may  be  able  to  support  the  church  gene- 
rously with  their  pecuniary  means,  they  are  tempted  to  an 
extravagance  of  living  by  the  facilities  for  obtaining  credit 
which  the  present  age  aff'ords,  and  so  imprudent  expendi- 
tures compel  them  to  resort  to  accommodation-bills,  and  other 
accommodating  means  of  supplying  their  necessities — and 
hardly  any  thing  is  left  to  give  to  the  church.  With  them, 
the  ability  to  borrow,  or  get  credit,  and  not  capital,  is  all 
that  is  necessary,  and  thus  they  are  all  the  time  struggling 
to  pay  their  debts,  instead  of  supporting  the  church,  and 
striving  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  They  must 
live  in  a  manner  worthy  of  their  wealth  and  position,  and 


852     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


their  nniusements  must  be  of  tlie  same  expensive  order,  in- 
stead of  walking  worthy  of  their  high  vocation  as  Christians, 
and  exercising  the  self-denial  rec|uired  by  the  gospel ;  and 
shortly,  their  dignity  and  their  business  collapse  together, 
involving  themselves  in  ruin,  and  spreading  havoc  and 
destruction  around  the  homes  of  innocent  and  unsuspect- 
ing creditors.  They  indulge  a  restless  anxiety  to  do  an 
immense  business,  which  a  bloated  credit-system  inordi- 
nately sharpens,^^  instead  of  laying  up  the  greatest  amount 
of  treasure  in  heaven,  and  exerting  the  most  extensive  reli- 
gious influence  among  men ;  and  presently  a  crisis  comes, 
and  frightful  bankruptcy  ensues.  Captivated  by  the  mere- 
tricious dignity  of  a  splendid  fortune,  they  divert  their  at- 
tention fi-om  their  regular  business,  and  meddle  with  land 
speculations,  bonus  operations,  with  their  consequent  usuri- 
ous interest,  and  otlier  delusive  enterprises,  of  which  they 
have  but  little  knowledge,  instead  of  devoting  their  surplus 
money  to  the  great  interests  of  the  church,  and  their  pre- 
cious time  to  the  incalculable  interests  of  their  souls;  and  so 
both  fortune  and  soul  are  in  danger  of  perishing  together. 
Desirous  of  getting  foricard  too  fast — of  getting  rich  icith- 
out  labor — of  enjoying  the  luxuries  of  life  hefore  the}/ have 
earned  them — they  presently  encounter  the  accumulated 
evils  of  temporal  want  and  spiritual  poverty.  Inordinate 
passion  for  wealth  often  defeats  itself,  by  blinding  the  judg- 
ment, by  exciting  visionary  schemes  and  ruinous  specula- 
tions in  the  imagination,  and  by  impelling  the  adventurer 
upon  bold  and  reckless  experiments ;  and  even  men  of  the 
coolest  judgment  and  most  deliberate  habits,  under  the  force 
of  this  passion  are  rendered  incapable  of  reasoning  wisely. 
An  almost  irresistible  charm  seems  to  allure  them  into  that 
dashing  circle  where  business  is  most  weighty  and  import- 
ant, and  expenditures  are  of  the  most  dazzling  and  magnifi- 
cent kind — where  progress  is  downward — and  ruin  as  certain 
as  death — and  on  the  outer  edge  of  which  the  more  cautious 


OBJECTIONS  TO  GIVING  CONSIDERED. 


353 


and  prudent  will  gather  up  the  splendid  fragments  of  the 
wreck     their  own  prices. 

2.  The  great  objection  to  giving  is^  *^  I  have  a  wife  and 
children  to  provide  for/'  and  the  following  text  is  used  as  an 
argument  for  giving  little :  He  that  provideth  not  for  his 
own,  and  especially  for  those  of  his  own  house,  hath  denied 
the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel.^'  This  is  made  the 
pretence  or  cavil  for  providing  a  large  estate  for  posterity, 
but  it  is  a  sad  preversion  of  the  text.  The  apostle  refers 
to  those  who,  being  able  to  maintain  their  families,  cast  their 
poor  kindred  upon  the  church  to  be  provided  for  out  of  the 
common  stock.  The  apostle  commands  ^Hhem  that  have 
widows'' — that  is,  whether  a  mother  or  a  daughter — ^*to 
relieve  them,  and  let  not  the  church  be  charged,  that  it  may 
relieve  them  that  are  widows  indeed."  You  should  indeed 
provide  for  and  educate  your  children,  but  it  must  be  in 
such  a  manner  as  will  make  them  most  serviceable  to  God; 
and  such  provision  and  education  can  never  be  hindered  by 
works  of  charity.  You  should  indeed  make  suitable  and 
sufficient  provision  for  your  families,  but  this  does  not  re- 
lease you  from  as  strong  obligation  to  make  suitable  provi- 
sion for  the  church  of  Christ.  There  must  be  some  due  pro- 
portion between  the  claims  of  your  family  and  the  claims  of 
the  church ;  and  what  this  proportion  is,  you,  as  a  conscien- 
tious, truly  charitable,  self-denying  man,  must  determine. 
You  may  save  too  much  for  your  family,  or  you  may  give 
too  much  to  the  church,  though  there  is  not  much  danger 
of  this.  In  saving  too  much,  you  will  leave  undone  those 
noble  works  of  charity  that  would  have  been  of  greater  use 
to  you,  your  family,  and  to  the  world,  than  all  your  tempo- 
ral gain  can  be ;  indeed,  you  may  furnish  your  family  with 
the  means  of  incalculable  evil  to  themselves  and  others  in 
time  and  eternity  while  you  are  living  or  when  you  are  dead. 
What  do  you  call  a  competent  provision  for  yourself  and 
family?     That  you  may  be    clothed  in  purple  and  fine 

30* 


354     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


lineii;  and  fare  sumptuously  every  day  That  was  the 
standard  of  another  before  you.  What,  are  you  Christians, 
and  profess  to  have  taken  the  gospel  as  your  standard? 
Very  well,  it  imposes  the  duties  of  self-denial  and  mortifi- 
cation, and  demands  the  consecration  of  yourselves  and  all 
you  have  to  the  Master's  use.''  And  the  world  expects 
you  to  do  this,  and  reproaches  you  for  not  doing  it.  This 
is  the  will  of  God,  that  with  well-doing  we  should  put  to 
silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men.''  You  are  constantly 
complaining  probably  of  the  want  of  more  laborers  in  the 
vineyard  of  Christ,  while  you  are  not  willing  to  bear  your 
just  proportion  of  supporting  those  who  are  now  there,  and 
many  of  whom  are  tempted  to  retire  from  it  because  their 
support  is  insufficient  or  so  scanty.  Now,  when  you  have 
nothing  to  spare  above  a  competent  provision  for  your  family, 
it  will  be  time  enough  to  lament  the  want  of  more  laborers 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry ;  or  when  you  shall  have  done 
all  you  can  to  support  those  in  the  field,  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  do  it ;  and  least  of  all,  can  you  complain  in  the 
one  case,  if  your  plans,  and  efforts,  and  successes  transcend 
a  competent  provision  for  your  families. 

3.  I  must  pay  my  debts  before  I  can  give  any  thing  or 
much  to  the  support  of  the  ministry."  Stay,  brother. 
What  do  you  mean  ?  Do  you  mean,  that  you  have  wisely 
and  prudently  contracted  debts  to  enlarge  your  business, 
that  you  may  make  the  more  ?  or  carry  on  a  safe  business  ? 
Is  yours  a  safe  business,  and  do  you  not  certainly  calculate 
on  a  fair  profit  at  least  ?  Therefore,  your  debts  have  become 
the  very  ground  of  your  ability  to  give.  How  then  can 
they  be  made  an  argument  against  giving  ?  Restrained  by 
the  force  of  your  own  argument,  do  you  deny  yourself  and 
family  any  necessari/  comforts,  nay,  even  needless  pleasures 
and  amusements  ?  Indeed,  with  assured  prospect  of  ulti- 
mate success  upon  the  basis  of  your  debts,  have  you  not  al- 
ready made  certain  investments  of  a  permanent  nature  over 


OBJECTIONS  TO  GIVING  CONSIDERED.  355 

and  above  what  will  be  required  to  pay  all  your  debts  when 
they  fall  due  ?  Are  you  then  honest  with  your  conscience, 
and  with  God  in  urging  this  excuse  ?  A  portion  at  least  of 
this  permanent  and  independent  investment  you  were  able 
to  spare,  and  should  have  devoted  to  the  support  of  the 
ministry;  and  what  was  not  sufficient  to  impose  the  re- 
straints of  self-denial  upon  yourself  and  family,  much  less 
to  prevent  an  expenditure  in  needless  pleasures  and  diver-  • 
sions,  cannot  be  a  valid  reason  why  you  should  give  nothing 
at  all,  or  very  little ^  to  the  support  of  the  gospel. 

But  this  not  all.  Admitting  that  from  misfortune,  or 
failure,  or  any  other  cause,  you  have  become  involved  in  debt 
above  your  ability  to  pay — that  does  not  cancel  your  obliga- 
tion to  contribute  something  for  the  support  of  the  church. 
Among  your  debts  you  are  to  include  the  debt  you  owe 
the  Lord,  for  this  is  a  standing  debt;  and  in  paying  off  your 
other  debts,  you  are  to  pay  the  Lord  a  proportion,  at  least,  of 
his  claim  upon  you.  No  matter  what  is  the  amount  of  your  in- 
debtedness to  others,  God^s  claim  still  stands  as  good  as  theirs. 
Of  course  in  this  case  your  contribution  to  charitable  purposes 
must  be  less  than  it  would  be  if  you  were  free  from  debt. 
It  maybe  objected,  'Hhis  is  robbing  your  creditors  to  support 
the  church/^  But  otherwise  it  would  be  robbing  the  Lord  to 
pay  your  creditors,  just  as  it  would  be  robbing  one  creditor 
to  pay  the  rest.  Again,  it  may  be  objected,  a  man  must 
he  just  before  he  can  be  generous. Granted;  but  the  claim 
of  God  is  not  one  of  generosity,  but  of  justice,  and  so  is 
supported  by  the  objection.     Again,  it  may  be  argued, 

every  one  is  to  lay  by  in  store'' — for  charitable  objects — 
^^as  the  Lord  hsis  jprospered  him.''  That  is  true,  and  there- 
fore you  may  have  but  a  small  proportion  to  spare  from 
other  claims,  to  meet  God's  claims  upon  him.  Again,  it 
may  be  argued,  in  the  case  of  insolvency  God  will  waive 
his  claims  in  behalf  of  other  creditors.  That  is  more  to  the 
point,  but  this  is  the  very  question  at  issue.    Prove  this, 


« 


356     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 

and  we  yield.  You  may  still  argue,  My  misfortunes  have 
come  upon  me  by  God's  permission  or  dispensation,  and 
therefore  Grod  himself  has  cancelled  his  claim  upon  me. 
That  he  permitted  your  misfortune  is  very  probable,  and  yet 
you  are  responsible  for  the  consequences  of  it  if  you  might 
have  prevented  it,  and  consequently  your  obligation  to  God 
is  uncancelled,  as  your  obligation  to  any  other  creditor  is. 
That  he  caused  your  misfortune  remains  to  be  proved.  You 
may  still  urge,  Owe  no  man  any  thing.''  But  you  have 
already  broken  this  precept — you  are  insolvent.  The  ques- 
tion is,  whether  you  shall  now  include  the  Lord  among  your 
creditors  or  not,  and  in  paying  off  all  the  claims  against  you, 
you  shall  not  pay  the  Lord  a  proportion  of  his.  But  it  may 
be  further  argued,  I  am  commanded  by  the  Lord  to  be 
honest,  and  how  can  I  be  strictly  so  to  my  fellow-men  if  I 
appropriate  to  charitable  objects  any  thing  necessarily  re- 
quired to  pay  my  just  debts?  Is  not  this  putting  it  out  of 
my  power  to  be  strictly  honest  Not  at  all ;  for  by  being 
strictly  honest  to  the  Lord,  he  will  enable  you  to  pay  off  all 
your  just  debts  to  others.  The  little  he  requires  of  you 
under  your  present  circumstances,  compared  with  what  you 
should  give  were  you  wholly  unembarrassed,  cannot  sensibly 
effect  the  respective  payments  required  in  meeting  the  claims 
of  your  creditors.  The  claim  of  the  Lord  is  as  just  and 
standing  a  claim  as  that  of  your  family  to  support,  of  your 
children  to  education,  and  your  country  to  your  annual 
tax.  You  should  now,  it  is  true,  be  more  frugal,  economi- 
cal, and  self-denying,  that  you  may  as  soon  as  possible 
meet  all  the  demands  of  your  indebtedness.  That  is  now 
your  plain  and  urgent  duty,  and  this  is  all  that  can  be 
justly  required  of  you.  Are  you  pressing  all  your  energies 
in  this  direction  ?  Are  you  confining  your  personal  and 
family  expenses  within  as  small  a  compass  as  your  exigency 
requires  ?  Have  you  diminished  these  within  the  bounds 
of  prudence,  that  you  may  be  enabled  to  liquidate  these 


OBJECTIONS  TO  GIVING  CONSIDERED.  3 57 


claims  ?  If  not,  why  should  you  wish  to  abstract  the  whole 
claim  of  the  Lord  to  do  it  ?  The  Lord  is  willing  to  share 
with  you  and  your  family  in  the  urgent  demands  of  others 
upon  you;  but  he  is  not  willing,  we  maintain,  to  surrender 
his  whole  claim,  and  be  excluded  from  all  regard  in  this 
matter. 

But,  we  inquire,  how  much  did  you  give  to  charitable  ob- 
jects, and  the  support  of  the  ministry,  while  you  were  un- 
embarrassed by  debts  ?  "Would  withholding  that  now  help 
you  much?  Are  your  annual,  personal,  and  family  expenses 
less  now  than  they  were  when  you  were  unembarrassed  ?  Is 
not  this  objection  to  giving  a  recent  thing  with  you,  suggested 
by  a  loss  in  religion,  an  increase  in  embarrassment,  and  an  in- 
disposition to  subject  yourself  to  the  painful  exercise  of  the 
practical  virtuQS  just  now  mentioned?  Has  it  ever  occured 
to  you,  unless  unavoidable  misfortune  plunged  you  into  debt, 
that  it  is  surprising  you  should  now  be  so  scrupulously  ho- 
nest to  get  out  of  debt,  and  yet  were  not  honest  enough  to 
keep  out  of  debt?  Presuming  that  you  have  given  some- 
thing to  pious  objects  since  you  became  so  deeply  involved, 
has  it  sensibly  lessened  your  ability  to  extricate  yourself? 
Or  presuming  that  you  have  given  nothing  to  pious  objects 
of  late,  has  it  sensibly  increased  your  ability  to  liquidate 
the  claims  of  your  creditors  ?  Are  you  so  poor  now,  that 
you  cannot  spare  two  mites  ?  Are  you  poorer  than  the  wi- 
dow who  gave  them?  We  will  examine  the  objection  no 
farther,  but  suggest  what  we  think  is  your  plain  duty.  It 
is  this :  after  meeting  your  necessary  expenses,  and  devoting 
what  you  conscientiously  can  to  pious  objects,  you  should 
give  every  cent  remaining  of  your  income  to  liquidating 
your  just  debts. 

4.  It  may  be  objected,  The  poor  cannot  afford  to  give 
any  thing.'^  The  real  poor  cannot,  and  nothing  of  the 
kind  is  expected  of  them.  But  those  who  can  spare  some- 
thing, however  small,  and  yet  withhold  it,  cannot  feel  much 


358     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 

interest  either  in  Christ's  cause  or  in  his  service — their  at- 
tainments will  be  superficial,  their  comforts  evanescent,  and 
their  progress  slow.  But  whatever  the  poor  or  the  rich 
give,  from  a  right  principle,  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  God 
will  surely  return,  in  some  form,  a  hundred-fold.  The  poor 
and  pious  widow  of  Zarephath  obtained,  for  the  cake  she 
prepared  for  Elijah,  the  barrel  of  meal  that  wasted  not, 
and  the  cruse  of  oil  that  failed  not;  and  she  gained  by 
giving,  though  it  seemed  she  and  her  son  would  perish  by 
giving.  Though  God  may  not  employ  a  miracle  again  to 
relieve  the  pious  poor,  yet  he  is  the  God  of  providence, 
and  superintends  the  wants  of  his  people  as  certainly  and 
as  well  as  he  did  the  widow  in  her  poverty.  Not  only  so, 
God  positively  commands,  that  every  man  shall  give  as 
he  is  able,  according  to  the  blessing  of  the.  Lord  thy  God 
which  he  hath  given  thee  and  let  every  man  lay  by 
him  in  store  as  God  hath  prospered  him.^'f  The  poorest 
of  the  poor  who  can  give  any  thing  are  all  included.  Christ 
did  not  disapprove  the  liberality  of  the  poor  woman  who 
cast  her  two  mites  into  the  treasury,  though  this  was  all 
she  had.  How  easily  can  he  return  a  hundred-fold,  if  not 
in  kind,  at  least  in  quantity  !  and  he  will  do  it.  If,  while 
on  earth,  he  could  find  a  fish  to  contribute  to  the  payment 
of  his  tax  and  Peter's,  and  magnify  a  few  loaves  and  fishes 
to  feed  famishing  thousands,  his  resources  will  not  fail  now 
he  is  in  heaven.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  poor  can  give  some- 
thing. As  their  income  is  small,  but  little  is  required. 
Indeed,  many,  with  a  small  income,  do  expend  more  than  a 
tenth,  probably,  in  useless  self-indulgence,  as  in  the  use  of 
tobacco,  snufi",  and  other  articles  equally  unprofitable ;  and 
this  may  be  the  reason  why  they  not  only  give  little  or 
nothing  to  the  church,  but  why  they  are  kept  poor  so  long. 
They  who  at  most  can  spare  but  little,  are  not  as  economical 


*  Deut.  xvi.  16,  17. 


t  1  Cor.  xvL  2. 


EFFICIENCY  IN  SUPPORTING  THE  MINISTRY.  859 


as  the  rich,  who  can  spare  so  much,  and  yet  often  give  so 
little.  They  are  i^ot  as  diligent  in  business  as  they  should 
be ;  nor  do  they  redeem  every  moment  of  their  time  as  they 
should ;  nor  do  they  make  their  income  go  as  far  as  pos- 
sible. How  much  time  is  wasted  by  them  in  useless  visits 
and  unprofitable  conversation !  What  amounts  do  they 
spend  annually,  either  for  themselves  or  their  children,  or 
both,  in  gratifying  a  vain  curiosity  in  popular  amusements ! 
What  vain  and  idle  habits  do  they  indulge,  and  in  how 
many  ways,  by  bits  and  drops,  do  their  small  and  hard 
earnings  disappear  almost  as  soon  as  they  come  into  hand, 
and  little  or  nothing  is  left  for  Christ  and  his  cause  !  Let 
the  poor  be  diligent,  economical,  self-denying,  redeeming 
the  time,  and  obtain  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  their 
hearts,  and  every  week  of  health  and  prosperity  will  wit- 
ness, at  its  close,  a  cheerful  and  a  generous  contribution  to 
the  support  of  the  church.  No  real  comfort  is  lessened  by 
giving,  but  rather  increased,  and  the  comfort  of  giving  is 
superadded.  They  but  return  to  God  what  they  can  spare  : 
For  all  things  come  of  thee,  and  of  thine  own  have  we 
given  thee.'^* 


♦  1  Chron.  xxix.  14. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

APPEAL  IN  BEHALF  OF  THE    METHODIST  MINISTRY,  AND 
THE  WIDOWS  AND  ORPHANS  OF  DECEASED  PREACHERS. 

We  shall  close  this  treatise  with  an  appeal  to  Methodists 
in  behalf  of  their  ministry,  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
deceased  preachers. 

Your  preachers  are  under  the  most  solemn  obligation  to 
preach  the  gospel — a  work  from  which  they  cannot  retire 
at  pleasure,  and  which,  as  itinerants,  they  cannot  neglect, 
to  provide  the  things  of  this  life  for  themselves  and  their 
families ;  and,  therefore,  necessity  is  laid  upon  you  to  sup- 
port them,  and  religious  obligation  and  common  honesty 
bind  you  to  do  it.  They  should  not  be  forced  to  neglect 
men's  souls,  but  give  themselves  wholly  to  these  things,^' 
and  surely  you  should  not  neglect  their  bodies.  Their 
whole  business  is  for  another  world — to  spend  all  life  in 
studying  and  preaching  Christ — in  searching  into  his  myste- 
ries of  spiritual  life,  and  meditating  upon  the  nature,  works, 
and  ways  of  the  blessed  God — to  engage  in  acts  of  prayer 
and  praise,  and  talk  of  God  and  glory — to  learn  the  more 
of  God,  and  become  the  better,  that  they  may  teach  you 
the  more,  and  make  you  the  better — ^to  find  the  way  nearer 
to  heaven  themselves,  that  they  may  lead  you  the  nearer  to 
that  happy  country. 

By  their  call  to  the  ministry  they  are  related  to  Christ , 
and,  therefore,  in  maintaining  them,  you  maintain  the  cause 
of  Christ.  And,  by  their  call  to  the  ministry,  thei/  are  re- 
lated to  you  as  the  flock  of  Christ,  and,  therefore,  in  main- 
360 


APPEAL  IN  BEHALF  OP  THE  MINISTRY,  ETC.  861 


taioing  them,  you  maintain  your  own  cause.  In  tlie  former 
case,  there  cannot  be  so  noble  a  demand  for  the  use  of 
money ;  in  the  latter  case,  there  cannot  be  a  more  important 
demand  for  the  use  of  money  :  in  the  one  case,  you  cannot 
neglect  the  ministry  without  neglecting  the  cause  of  Christ  ; 
in  the  other  case,  you  cannot  neglect  them  without  neglecting 
your  own  cause.  The  penurious  may  suppose  that  they  can 
enjoy  the  advantages  of  the  Christian  ministry,  though  they 
give  but  little.  We  reject  the  premises,  and  hence  deny 
the  conclusion.  The  general  advantages  of  national  and 
domestic  morality  the  penurious  man  may  enjoy,  but  nothing 
further.  He  that  is  able  to  give  much,  but  gives  little,  or 
he  that  is  able  to  give  little,  but  gives  nothing,  cannot  enjoy 
one  single  real  and  permanent  spiritual  blessing  under  the 
gospel  ministry — not  one.  The  fact  that  he  is  penurious  is 
demonstration  that  the  gospel  has  as  yet  done  nothing  for 
him.  As  he  cannot  spare  his  money  for  the  cause  of  Christ, 
he  cannot  be  a  Christian,  whatever  may  be  his  pretensions 
or  his  cavils ;  for  Christ  calls  upon  no  man  for  that  which 
he  cannot  spare  ]  and  he  can  feel  but  little  or  no  interest  in 
his  own  cause  for  which  he  gives  but  little  or  nothing. 

That  man  may  lasty  but  never  lives, 
Who  much  receives,  hut  nothing  gives ; 
Whom  none  can  love,  whom  none  can  thank — 
Creation*s  blot,  creation's  blank/* 

An  itinerant  ministry  cannot  be  supported  by  secular 
employments,  for  they  have  left  these — their  homes,  and 
friends,  and  trades,  and  business,  and  profession,  and  all — for 
the  exclusive  work  of  the  ministry;  they  have  abandoned 
these  their  secular  hopes  for  your  sakes.  Kather  than  leave 
your  souls  in  want,  they  have  surrendered  the  means,  the 
only  means,  all  the  means,  they  had  to  supply  the  wants  of 
their  bodies.  They  conducted  you  to  the  cross  of  Christ, 
and  are  now  conducting  you  toward  heaven,  and  can  you 
overlook  their  temporal  wants  on  the  way  ?    They  are  be- 

31 


862     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


stowing  upon  you  their  utmost  cost  and  labor,  to  alleviate 
all  your  spiritual  sufferings,  supply  all  your  spiritual  ne- 
cessities, and  prepare  you  to  see  God  face  to  face,  and 
live  forever  with  him  in  glory;  and  do  they  not  deserve 
the  best  of  your  temporal  care  and  help?  They  are  not 
willing  that  a  single  one  of  you,  as  the  sheep  of  Christ, 
should  suifer  or  want;  and  are  you  willing  that  they 
should  know  or  suffer  temporal  want?  They  weep  over 
your  spiritual  need,  and  teach,  and  preach,  and  pray,  and 
fast,  and  labor,  that  you  may  be  supplied  with  spiritual  food 
and  clothing  on  earth,  and  a  mansion  in  heaven ;  and  can 
you  spare  nothing  to  furnish  them  with  food  to  eat,  and 
clothes  to  wear,  and  a  house  to  live  in  a  single  year  or  two  ? 
They  grieve  when  you  grieve,  and  rejoice  when  you  rejoice; 
and  have  you  no  sympathy  for  their  sorrow,  and  no  means 
to  spare  to  make  them  happy  ?  They  do  all  they  can  to 
save  your  families ;  and  are  you  doing  as  little  as  you  can 
to  comfort  their  families  ?  they  wish  to  see  poured  out  upon 
you  of  spiritual  blessings  good  measure,  pressed  down, 
shaken  together,  and  running  over  ;'^  and  can  you  be  con- 
tent while  they  receive  a  measure  barely  sufficient  to  supply 
the  common  necessities  of  life  ?  Is  your  heaven  to  be  pur- 
chased at  so  dear  a  rate  to  Christ,  and  obtained  at  so  great 
a  cost  to  his  ministers,  and  yet  cost  yon  so  little  ?  Christ 
walketh  among  his  ministers — remember  his  presence — he 
will  support  them — support  them  he  will,  if  he  must  do  it 
without  your  assistance — support  them  he  will,  if  he  must 
call  the  ravens  again  to  his  aid.  Indeed,  many  living  Me- 
thodist ministers  can  say,  God  has  interposed  almost  as 
mysteriously  oft-times  in  relieving  their  temporal  wants,  as 
the  ravens  surprised  Elijah  on  the  mountain. 

You  complain  when  the  minister  neglects  any  of  his  im- 
portant duties,  and  often  when  he  neglects  them  in  the 
smallest  particular ;  and,  indeed,  any  neglect  of  duty  on 
their  part  is  of  the  gravest  importance,  for  it  is  a  neglect 


APPEAL  IN  BEHALF  OF  THE  MINISTRY,  ETC.  363 


of  tlie  interests  of  souls  committed  to  their  care  by  Christ, 
and  for  whom  Christ  died.  But  have  they  no  just  ground 
of  complaint  against  you  for  the  neglect  of  your  duty  to- 
ward them  ?  It  may  be,  it  is  most  probable,  in  many  cases, 
their  neglect  was  caused  by  yours.  Embarrassed  in  tem- 
poral matters,  they  are  often  embarrassed  in  the  discharge 
of  their  official  duties.  Keep  the  faithful  minister  clear  of 
the  world,  and  you  will  know  all  his  power.  But,  if  he 
must  bear  along  you  and  also  the  debts  you  should  have 
justly  enabled  him  to  pay,  you  need  not  be  surprised  if 
sometimes  he  is  tempted  to  neglect  you  to  look  after  his 
temporal  affairs.  In  fact,  they  are  your  debts,  and  God  is  your 
security  for  their  payment  \  and  if  you  fail,  and  the  minis- 
ter nevertheless  do  his  duty  faithfully,  and  call  upon  Grod, 
he  will  most  certainly  pay  them  all  off  to  the  last  farthing. 

If  we  go  into  debt,  it  is  for  your  sakes ;  and  if  we  go 
into  debt  beyond  our  appropriation,  that  is  not  y^r  fault, 
unless  the  appropriation  is  insufficient  to  meet  necessary 
current  expenses,  and  then  who  is  to  bear  the  burden  of 
the  deficiency  ?  Brethren,  let  me  speak  to  your  hearts  and 
consciences.  Sometimes,  for  your  sakes,  out  of  the  appro- 
priation which  you  make  for  our  support,  we  purchase  a 
horse,  and  the  means- of  conveying  us  to  our  work — and 
this  is  for  your  sakes.  Should  we  receive  the  whole  appro- 
priation, we  have  nothing  to  spare  for  this  expense  on  a  cir- 
cuit or  district ;  and,  if  we  fail  to  receive  the  whole  appro- 
priation, we  are  seriously  embarrassed,  unless  we  have  some 
independent  resource  to  which  to  apply,  and  to  which  you 
have  no  claim.  It  is  a  hard  case  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
be  compelled  to  bear  the  expense  of  it,  too,  when  ^^the  la- 
borer is  worthy  of  his  hire.''  But  very  few  have  this  inde- 
pendent resource,  and  what  can  they  do  in  case  of  defi- 
ciency ?  And  when,  in  addition,  the  allowance  is  too  small 
to  meet  necessary  expenses,  though  it  should  all  be  paid, 
what  must  be  the  condition  of  those  who  must  endure  the 


364     TEMPORAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CLASS  MEETINGS. 


deficiency — to  wliat  quarter  are  they  to  look  for  relief? 
And  when  an  insufficient  allowance  is  not  all  paid,  it  is  ob- 
vious the  embarrassment  of  the  preacher  and  his  family 
must  be  greatly  aggravated.  It  may  be  replied,  that  the 
horse,  &c.  may  be  sold  subsequently,  and  thus  the  expen- 
diture be  restored.  Not  so ;  for  the  horse  may  be  old  now, 
and  worn  down  in  your  service,  and  the  carriage  and  har- 
ness worn  out,  or  greatly  impaired  in  value,  and  can  be  sold, 
and  sold  they  must  be,  at  a  price  greatly  reduced  from  the 
original  cost — and  the  preacher  alone  must  bear  and  feel 
this  loss.  The  little  money  that  was  saved,  by  self-denial 
and  economy,  to  school  our  childxen,  and  enlarge  our  library, 
is  thus  consumed  for  another  purpose — the  children  must 
do  as  well  as  they  can  with  a  little  schooling,  and  we  must 
be  content  with  the  books  we  have,  or  not  complain  if  we 
are  compelled  to  sell  a  few  of  the  little  we  have  to  pay  our 
pressing  debts;  for,  as  ministers,  we  must  be  honorable 
men.    And  all  this  is  for  your  sakes. 

But  this  is  not  all.  At  the  close  of  a  long  life  of  labor, 
and  toil,  and  suffering,  and  hardships  of  various  kinds,  one 
of  these  self-denying  poor  men,  in  the  bosom  of  his  weep- 
ing wife  and  children,  and  among  strangers,  dies — and  you 
scarcely  ever  after  hear  of  Ms  family.  They  have  suddenly 
vanished  in  the  great  forest  of  human  society.  What  has 
become  of  the  widow  and  orphans  of  your  good  old  pastor? 
Where  are  they  ?  They  may  he  dead,  too.  Do  you  ever 
inquire  if  they  are  living,  and  how  they  are  getting  along  ? 
and  what  do  you  give  to  help  them  along  ?  Ah  !  if  you 
gave  little  or  nothing  to  support  them  while  the  husband 
and  father  lived  and  labored  for  you,  you  will  give  little  or 
nothing  to  help  them  now  he  is  dead,  and  can  do  no  more 
work  for  you.  Stop,  man ;  _you  are  indebted  to  the  dead — 
pay  that  thou  owest  to  \Ab  loidow  and  children — pay  princi- 
pal and  interest.  But  the  widow  and  children,  too,  in 
some  cases,  are  gone  to  rest  in  the  quiet  and  retired  grave, 


APPEAL  IN  BEHALF  OF  THE  MINISTRY,  ETC.  365 


and  their  spirits  are  again  with  the  husband  and  father 
in  that  happy  land  above.  Oh,  happy  family !  none  hap- 
pier in  heaven  1  They  need  now  your  aid  no  more.  They 
have  forgiven  you.  And  they  are  willing  to  share  all 
heaven  with  you,  and  come  back  and  endure  all  again 
for  you;  who  would  not  part  with  a  little  earthly  com- 
fort for  them  ?  0  ye  dead  !  ye  glorified  !  who  leaned  your 
weary  heads  upon  the  bosom  of  divine  Providence,  and 
heard  Jesus  say,  Mourners  dry  your  tears — a  rest  remain- 
eth'' — ye  are  rich  now,  and  ye  shall  never  want  again.  Ye 
repose  now  in  the  pleasant  shade  of  the  tree  of  life,  for- 
ever removed  from  the  heat  and  cold  of  a  suffering  life. 
Christ  visits  you  in  your  mansion,  and  your  frequent  and 
painful  separations  in  the  work  of  the  gospel  are  at  an  end. 
You  have  found  a  permanent  home  at  last — and  such  a 
home  ! — and  you  rest  from  your  labors.  Your  work  is 
done,  and  Christ  pays  you  for  it,  as  he  promised  he  would 
— and  such  a  reward  ! — glorijied  together  with  him  J'  It 
is  enough. 


THE  END. 


STSKSOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHNSON  A  CO. 
PHILADKLPHIA. 


31* 


